Bottle cleaning device

Abstract

 The method foresees an alternate vertical movement of the bottles which are made rotate at same time.
The cleaning of the bottles is obtained by virtue of rotating brushes (23) inserted inside the bottles and of hot water jets on the inside and on the outside of the bottles. The device, which works automatically, comprises two vertical movable frames (8, 17): the upper frame (8) supports the overturned bottle, which is made rotate by an elastic brush (23) inserted into it; this brush is fastened to a hollow shaft (24), which feeds the cleaning water into the bottle. This shaft is surrounded by a sleeve (20, 21) which is fastened to the inner frame (17) and houses the brush (23), when the bottle is introduced in or removed from the machine. A pipe (35) placed atthe outside of the bottle hasthree nozzles (32,33,34) which throw water jets on the bottom and on the labels of the bottle; a fixed comb (26,27) scrapes off the labels.

Description

[0001] The invention concerns an improved method and device for the cleaning of bottles, that is to say a new methoo of cleaning bottles and a new machine suitable for the automatic execu- _tion according to the method itself of the cleaning opera- _tions of bottles such as those used for wine, which need an accurate cleaning at the inside and, moreover, suitable for the operations of removing the labels from wine, mineral wa ter and other bottles,

[0002] The application field of the new method and new machine being still at a handicraft level, where the introduction and removal of the bottle are made by hand by the operator

[0003] The prior state of art comprises a method and a machine alrea dy subject of the Italian patent application no_u 40024 A/78 dated February 1st, 1978 in the name of the same inventor, The method according to that patent application foresaw the introduction of the overturned bottle neck into the fixed sleeve by the operator, this sleeve housing the inner brushes provoked to come out of the sleeve by manual or automatic ver tical movement of the corresponding motor underneath and the cleaning of the bottle by means of an alternate vertical mo- _vement of the bottle caused by hand by the operator before letting it go in order to allow it to be drawn into rotation by said brushes. In the corresponding machine the sleeve hous ing the inner brushes was fixed vertically on the platform, which was fastened to the frame of the machine itself; at the inside of the sleeve the tube arranged on the extension of the crankshaft supporting and moving said brushes as well as feeding cold water into the inside of the bottle was sliding; the movement of said tube was obtained by shifting manually or pneumatically in vertical direction the motor support. The bottle was surrounded by a brush formed by a heli- _cal core equipped with bristles, the turn of which with minor diameter leaning on said platform, served as a support for the upturned bottle neck. Thus the helical brush carried out the outward cleaning of the bottle owing to a lateral cold water spray, the bottle being dragged into rotation by the inner brusties" The assembly of helical brush and spraying tu be was contained in a protection envelope arranged on the platform, to which the upper end of the brush was fastened. In the case of two station machines, both stations operated simultaneously.

[0004] This prior state of art is liable to further improvements concerning the reduction of the manual operations, the reduction of idle times and the necessity of removing one or more labels, generally very tough, from the bottle, From the afore-said derives the necessity of solvi ng the technical problem of finding a new method of cleaning the bottles, which allows the necessity of moving the bottle alternately by hand in vertical direction for its cleaning to be eliminat ed the shifting of the motor to be eliminated,the idle times as well as the operator fatigue to be reduced and the rotation of the bottle to be made smoother. The machine for the realization of this method must, moreover, be able to elimi nate the labels and to improve the quality of the inner and outer cleaning,

[0005] The invention solves said technical problem by adopting a method, which foresees the manual introduction of the overturned bottle into a rotating centering support, which has only a minimum of friction, as well as the automatic out-co ming movement of the inner brushes and the alternate vertical movement of the bottle up to the quick outflow of the cleaning water: the whole being associated with the hot water cleaning, particularly by means of hot water jets under pressure directed against the bottom and label areas, which are, moreover, subjected to a balanced scraping action; the machi ne, which carries out this method, foresees two stations with continuous and out of fase working in order to eliminate the idle times; each station foresees mainly: a frame supporting the bottle and vertically movable in a coordinated way with another movable frame below, which supports the sleeve housing the inner brushes; side centering rings of the bottle body and a pair of upper side stabilizing wheels of same; a rotating bushing centering the edge of the bottle neck and a radial lateral brush scraping the outside of the bottle: the whole being arranged on the bottle support frame; some upwardly inclined radial holes made towards the upper end of the tube contained within the sleeve for the cleaning of the inside of the bottle neck; three lateral aozzles fed with hot water under pressure; the highest of which is down wardly tilted in order to clean the concave bottom of the bottle; a cock limiting the quantity of water introduced in to the bottle in order to shorten the time of its discharge; a fixed motor driving to rotate the tube which supports the inner brushes and conducts the water in the bottle, passing at the inside of said sleeve,,

[0006] The advantages obtained by this invention are: greatly increased speed of cleaning the bottles, as such a machine ena _bles only one operator to wash even one thousand bottles in an hour; improved inner and outer cleaning; quicker emptying of the cleaning water from the bottle; complete elimination of the labels by using hot water, which is more economical than steam used for this purpose until now; keeping of the motor in a fixed position,

[0007] Some ways of carrying out the invention are illustrated - just to give.an example - in the four enclosed drawing tables, in which:

Figure 1 is a partially cutaway front view of the two station cleaning device in its position relative to a bottle being cleaned and to another bottle in the phase of introduction or removal;

Figure 2 is an enlarged and partially cutaway detail of a cleaning station, seen from the left side compared with Figu re 1;

Figure 3 is a view from above of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a schematic elevation view of the device together with the feeding tank of the hot water under pressure,

[0008] The indications are as follows: 1 is a base plate or platform resting on the rim 2 fastened to the four angular vertical rods 3 forming the frame of the device and connected by the upper rim 4; 5 indicates the faces of an outer casing equipped with a partition 6, the whole being fastened to the plate 1, with which it is extractable towards the upside for maintenance; 7 indicates two pairs of guide columns fastened at the bottom to the plate 1 and at the top to the frame 4; 8 and 9 are two vertically sliding upper frames, each laterally equipped with a pair of sleeves 10 guided on the columns 7; 11 and 12 indicate two rubber rings of different diameter fastened to their corresponding frames 8 and 9 in order to form an housing with clearance of the bottle 13 during its cleaning under rotation and a guide for the introduction of the same; 14 indicates a cage support fastened to its corre- _sponding frame 8, 9 equipped with an inferior bowl 15 inter- nally lined with a flared bush 16 in plastic material to sup port and center mouths of bottles with different diameters by means of a bearing 16', which facilitates the rotation of the bottle 13; 17 and 18 indicate two vertically mobile pla- _tes forming the two lower frames, each equipped with a pair ₅of sleeves 19 sliding on the columns 7; 20 and 21 are two slee _ve_s fastened one to plate 17 and one to plate ₁₈, each housing the tube 22 feeding the cleaning water to the bottle 13, from which at the top appear the elastic metal brushes 23 fa- _stened to the end of the inner shaft 24: the sleeves 20 and 21 embrace the brushes 23 during the introduction phase of the bottle; 25 indicates a set of radial holes made near the top of the tube 22 and inclined towards the upside to emit water jets suitable for the cleaning of the inside of the bottle neck 13; 26 and 27 indicate a comb-type two section brush at the top fastened to the frame 8, 9 and at the bottom to the cage 14, particularly to scrape the labels respectively 28 and 29; 30 is a pair of re-entering stabilizing wheels arranged laterally and elastically supported by the amortizing cap 31 fastened to the frame 8, 9, suitable to balance the action of the comb 26, 27; 32, 33, 34 indicate respectively a nozzle inclined towards the bottom and two horizontal nozzles to direct a violent hot water jet to the bottom of the bottle ₁₃, to its side against the label 28 and to its neck against the label 29; 35 is a tube for the feeding of the hot water under pressure to the nozzles 32, 33, 34; 36 indicates the offtake of each tube 35 to feed hot water under pressure to a rotating distributor having a body 37 fastened to the pla- _{te 1} coaxially to each tube 22 by means of a self-locking nut 38: 39 indicates cocks to adjust the water flow at the inside of the two bottles 13, particularly in such a way as to limit the quantity of water introduced into the bottle in order to obtain the quick and complete emptying during the ascent of the latter; 40 indicates a feeding tube of hot wa ter under pressure, which forks into the tubes 41 connected to the corresponding tubes 35 by means of couplings 42; 43 indicates a hydropneumatic valve operating as safety relief during the passage from the cleaning of the first to that of the second bottle 13 and during the incidental machine stop; 44 indicates two solenoid valves for the closing of the hot water feed to the bottles 13 during the phases of inactivity of the cleaning means; 45 is the motor equipped with the shaft 24; 46 is the support of each motor 45 housing the distributor 37; 48 indicates a pair of pipes for the discharge of the cleaning water from the plate 1; 49 (figure 2) indica ,tes a double-acting pneumatic operating cylinder vertically fastened on both the plates 17, 18, the rod of which 50 is fixed to the lower plate of the corresponding frame 8, 9; indicates another double-acting pneumatic cylinder, at the bottom fixed to the plate 1, the rod of which 52, passing in a waterproof way through the plate itself, is fastened to the corresponding plate 17, 18; 53 indicates a pair of upturns of each plate 17, 18 for the fixing of the sleeves ₁₉; 54 is an anular distribution chamber of the distributor 37, where the offtakes 36 unite: said chamber communicating with the corresponding pipe 22 through the tang 55 of the distributor, threaded for the fastening to the plate 1 by means of the nut 38; 56 is an overturned bowl which constitutes a water seal inserted into each distributor 37; 57 (Figure 4) is a tank upwardly equipped with an overflow control 58, at the bottom equipped with.a motor pump 59 for the feeding of hot water to pipe 40 under higher pressure than that of the water network such as to make it possible to eliminate the labels, and to receive the discharge from the pipe coming from the valve 43: the high water pressure (for instance 200 and more ^N/cm2) and. the positioning of the nozzles 3^2, 33, 34 also help to increase greatly the rotation of the bottles 13 in order to obtain a better cleaning; 60 is a panel containing the electric and pneumatic controls,

[0009] With reference to the left station of Figure 1 and to Figure 2, the operation takes place in the following way: once introduced the bottle 13 between the rings 11, 12, the edge of its neck is automatically centered by the truncated-cone bush 16 flared coaxially to the sleeve 2 in order to start the cycle by lowering the plate 17 by means of the cylinder 51, which determines the coming-out of the brushes 23 from the sleeve 20 and the uncovering of the jets 25, while the nozzles 32, 33, 34 start to work and the combs 26, 27 do the scraping of the labels 28, 29 of the bottle 13 dragged into balanced and stable rotation; the operating cylinder 49 provo kes one or more than one vertical oscillations of the bottle compared to the brushes 23 in order to improve the cleaning up to the lifting of the plate 17 in order to bring the st-a tion back to the starting position of a new cycle with the bottle already emptied; all this being achieved within a few seconds' time; meanwhile, while the operator removes the clean bottle from the top replacing it with another one, at the adjacent station another cycle takes place; thi.s takes place continuously,

[0010] In the practical realization the materials, the execution details, the operation pressure may be different from those indicated, but technically equivalent without leaving the juridical dominion of this invention; moreover, even if less convenient,.the device might be carried out with one station only,

Claims

1. Improved method for the cleaning of bottles comprising, after introduction by hand of the overturned bottie, the in ner cleaning of the bottle executed at two stations by means of rotation and by means of relative alternate vertical move _nent of inside brushes with feeding of water to the inside of the bottle along the axis of said brushes, comprising, mo _reover, the outward cleaning of the bottle by means of water jets against the bottle dragged into rotation by the above said brushes and its extraction by hand, characterized by the fact, that the alternate vertical cleaning movement is forced upon the bottle automatically and the rotation movement because of the dragging of the bot tle by the inside brushes is made smoother in order to allow the bottle to rotate quickly, notwithstanding the scraping action on the labels, which is, moreover, balanced; the elimination of the labels being completed by means of hot water jets under pressure, this water being, moreover, introduced into-the bottle, controlling its quantify and distribution at the inside of the bottle; the operation being carried out at two stations in a consecutive and continuous manner,

2. Improved device for the cleaning of bottles according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that each station is equipped with two frames (8, 17) automatically movable in vertical direction in a coordinated way and guided along the columns (7): one superior (8) supporting in a rotating way the overturned bottle (13) in order to provoke its alternate vertical cleaning movement and one inferior (17), to which the base of the sleeve (20) is fastened, which contains the inside brushes ¹(23) supported and driven to rotate by a tube (22) feeding the water and forming the extension of the shaft of the vertical motor (45) fastened to the frame; the upper frame (8) being driven by the rod of a vertical operating cylinder (49), the base of which is fastened to the plate (-17) of the lower fra me, which is on the other hand driven by the rod of an operat ing cylinder (51) fastened to the platform (1).

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized by the fact, that the upper frame (8) comprises mainly: two rings, one superior (11) and one inferior (12) of lesser diameter, to contain the bottle (13) with a clearance; a flared, truncated-cone bush (16) supported in a rotating way by a bearing (₁₆') underneath arranged in a bowl (15) placed below, at the bottom supported in a cage-type way at the frame (8) in order to support in a centered way the edge of the bottle neck; a la- _teral comb (26, 27) sliding on the outer bottle surface in order to scrape the labels (28, 29); a pair of amortizing wheels (30).

4. Device according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that each station comprises a piping equipped at different levels with three nozzles to spray hot water under pressure: one (34) for the bottle neck (13), one (33) for the bottle body and one (₃₂) for the bottle bottom; during the vertical movement, the bottle remains exposed to the action of the three nozzles, the nozzle (32) being inclined towards the bottom.

5. Device according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the water intended for the cleaning of the bottle inside (13) is controlled by means of the cock (39), with which each station is equipped,

6. Device according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the pipe (22) is equipped with holes (25) inclined towards the top for the cleaning of the inside of the bottle neck (13) at each station.

7. Device according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the two stations are contained in a casing (5) fastened to the platform (1) equipped with a partition (6), the whole being extractable towards the top, as it is resting on the rim (2) of the frame (3).

Drawing