| 摘要 |
<p>In a known type of bottle filling machine, a bottle travels on a platform which is raised so that the bottle encircles a filler tube and sealingly engages a filler bell which is slidable up and down on the filler tube. If a bottle explodes during filling, particles of glass can adhere to the filler tube and the filler bell and it is obviously desirable to clean off these glass particles so that they cannot get into a subsequent bottle. However, with the presently known filler machine, when a bottle explodes the filler bell drops to the end of the filler tube and is suspended just above the platform on which a bottle rides. This makes access to the underside of the bell difficult and hence makes it difficult to spray water to clean off the underside of the filler bell and the filler tube. At present, it is known to have an operator manually flush the tube and bell with a low pressure water spray but this is a slow and inefficient operation. The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a bell which has an outwardly extending flange with a radius greater than the radius of the guide surface of a bottle guide provided on the platform whereby the bell is prevented from falling to the lower end of the filler tube by engagement of the flange with the guide. A plurality of spray nozzles are provided which spray cleaning llquid, e.g. water, so as to first engage the flange and push the bell up the filler tube, after which the cleaning liquid can flush the underside of the bell and the filler tube. The spray is preferably under high pressure. By providing the nozzles in groups, the bell is allowed to drop one or more times between groups to shake off particles and water. An air spray may be provided after the water sprays to remove excess water.</p> |
