Flow control device

A flow control device has two half-bodies (76, 79) connected to one another with the interposition of an annular seal (92) and forming together a body defining a flowpath (81) between two openings (82, 83), each of which is associated with one of the half-bodies. A closure (86) is mounted in the flowpath (81) for movement between a closed position, in which it is applied against a seat (87) formed on a first half-body (76), and an open position in which it is distant from its seat. The closure (86) is mounted between the seat (87) and the opening (82) of the first half-body (76) and is connected to the second half-body by a rod (88) that passes through the annular seal (92). The annular seal (92) is axially compressible. The flowpath (81) is outwardly bounded by the seal (92).

The present invention relates to a flow control device capable of operating 
as a stopcock, as a delivery regulating valve, or else as a clack valve, 
for example a nonreturn valve. 
Taps or valves are known in which a ball is held captive between two 
half-bodies and can be applied against a seat formed on one of the 
half-bodies through the action of a return spring, or can be moved away 
from said seat in order to permit a flow through the body through the 
action of the pressure of the fluid or else through the action of a 
control means. 
These known taps have the disadvantage of having in their interior numerous 
recesses in which deposits can be formed. These deposits may be 
detrimental to the sound operation of the tap, and may also pollute the 
fluid subsequently flowing through the tap, particularly when said fluid 
is a food, pharmaceutical or other such substance. In addition, in this 
type of tap sound operation is no longer achieved when the spring is 
broken or has lost its original resilient properties, particularly through 
contact with the fluid flowing through the tap. In cases where the closure 
means must be controlled from the outside, a dynamic seal must be provided 
between one of the half-bodies and the control member passing through said 
half-body with a certain mobility. This dynamic seal has to be replaced 
periodically, and its presence gives rise to additional recesses in the 
flowpath of the fluid. 
The aim of the invention is therefore to propose a flow control device 
whose internal flowpath has minimum relief. 
According to the invention the flow control device, comprising two 
half-bodies connected to one another with the interposition of annular 
sealing means and forming together a body defining a flowpath between two 
openings, each of which is associated with one of the half-bodies, while a 
closure means is mounted in the flowpath for movement between a closed 
position, in which it is applied against a seat formed on a first 
half-body, and an open position in which it is distant from said seat, is 
characterized in that the closure means is mounted between the seat and 
the opening of the first half-body and is connected to the second 
half-body through the annular sealing means, and in that the annular 
sealing means are axially compressible. 
The movements of the closure means are accompanied by corresponding 
relative axial movements of the two half-bodies relative to one another 
through variation of the state of compression of the seal between the two 
half-bodies. There are no longer any specific return means or 
disadvantages associated therewith. The structure is simplified and its 
maintenance is facilitated. 
An advantageous version of the device according to the invention is 
provided with means for returning the closure means to the closed 
position. To serve as such return means, it is advantageous for the 
axially compressible annular sealing means to be elastically compressible. 
When this is so, the return means no longer hinder the flow of the fluid 
and no longer constitute a trap promoting the formation of deposits in the 
flow control device. 
The compressible annular sealing means for effecting the return of the 
closure means preferably comprise a tubular sleeve defining in its 
interior a duct connected to an internal duct in each of the half-bodies 
so as to achieve continuity therewith. 
When the flow control device is provided with means for actuating the 
closure means, these actuating means preferably consist of means for 
controlling the relative axial position of the two half-bodies. 
The flow control device is thus particularly advantageous because the 
actuating means no longer have to pass through the wall of one or the 
other half-body in order to be connected to the closure means. There is 
thus no longer any need for a dynamic seal around a rod actuating the 
closure means, and thus the corresponding costs of purchase and 
maintenance, the risks of wear and leaks, and also all the risks of 
accumulation of deposits in the region of said dynamic sealing means are 
eliminated. 
Other features and advantages of the invention will also emerge from the 
following description of various non-limitative examples.

The machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended to be inserted in a 
bottle-treatment chain. It comprises an inlet conveyor 1 receiving the 
bottles 2 coming from the upstream part of the chain, and an outlet 
conveyor 3 which passes the bottles 2 to the downstream part of the chain. 
Along the inlet conveyor 1 is disposed a spacer screw 4 of known type, 
which gives the successive bottles 2 a spacing and a speed of passage 
which are predetermined in such a manner as to synchronize the bottles 2 
with compartments 6 formed on the periphery of an inlet star wheel 7. The 
compartments 6 pass above the conveyor 1 and receive the successive 
bottles 2 in order to propel them along a semicircular path defined by a 
guide edge 8 of a guide plate 9. This semicircular path, along which the 
bottles slide, on their bases, on a floor 11, brings the bottles 2 from 
the inlet conveyor 1 to bottle treatment devices 12 mounted in crown-like 
distribution on the outer side wall of a rotary roundabout 13. Along the 
periphery of the roundabout 13 the treatment devices have a 
circumferential spacing between one another which corresponds to the space 
between successive bottles on the star wheel 7. 
Through the rotation of the roundabout 13 the treatment devices 12 pass in 
succession through a bottle gripping station 14, a bottle inversion 
station 16, an injection station 17, a bottle re-erection and draining 
station 18, and a station 19 for transferring the treated bottles to an 
outlet star wheel 21, which is similar to the inlet star wheel 7 and which 
passes the treated bottles from the transfer station 19 to the outlet 
conveyor 3 on a semicircular path along which the bottles slide, on their 
bases, on the floor 11 and follow another curved guide edge 22 of the 
plate 9. 
The outlet conveyors 21 and 3 are preferably physically composed of a 
single conveyor, above which the plate 9 is fixed. 
The machine is protected and soundproofed by peripheral panels 23, at least 
some of which are transparent and/or can be opened for maintenance and 
detailed inspection purposes. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, each treatment device comprises a clamp 24, the 
purpose of which is to grip by its neck the bottle 2 arriving in front of 
it in the gripping station, and then to handle the bottle during the 
inversion and re-erection operations, and finally to release the bottle at 
the transfer station 19. 
Each gripper clamp thus comprises a clamp body 26 in the form of a clevis 
comprising two arms 27 articulated on a substantially horizontal axis 28 
common to two opposite sides of a body 29 of the treatment device. The 
body 29 is fixed to the rotary frame 31 of the roundabout (FIGS. 2 and 3), 
and it is extended radially towards the outside from the rotary frame 21, 
in relation to the substantially vertical axis of rotation 32 of the 
roundabout 13. The axis 28 is situated close to the radially outer end of 
the body 29. The axis 28 is called the inversion axis, because it is 
around that axis that the bottles 2 pivot to effect their inversion and 
re-erection movements. For this purpose the clamp body 26 carries a finger 
30 ending in a fork 33, preferably made of plastics material having a low 
coefficient of friction and good wear-resistance A movement control bar 34 
is engaged in the fork 33. As shown in FIG. 1, the movement control bar 34 
extends around the roundabout 13 and, as shown in FIG. 3, it is fixed for 
example by brackets 36 to the fixed frame 37, which is situated under the 
rotary frame 31 and rotatably supports the latter. 
In the representation in FIG. 3 the movement control bar 34 is viewed as 
if, starting from the section plane of FIG. 3, the observer's viewing 
direction were not a straight line at right angles to the plane of the 
drawing, but a curve centered on the axis of rotation of the roundabout. 
It is thus that the part 34a of the bar 34 which controls the inversion 
movement of the bottles 2, and which is actually a helix having a circular 
axis, appears in FIG. 3 as being a semicircle centered on the inversion 
axis 28. 
The clamp 24 comprises two jaws 38 made of a plastic material, each fixed 
to a rigid branch 39. The two branches 39 are articulated on the body 26 
on two axes 41 parallel to one another and at right angles to the 
inversion axis 28. The jaws 38 are controlled by a slide 42 between a 
gripping position, in which they are relatively close to one another and 
can retain between them the neck of a bottle, and a release position, in 
which they are relatively distant from one another, and enable the neck of 
a bottle coming from the inlet star wheel 7 to be engaged between them, or 
to be disengaged from them in order to be taken up by the outlet star 
wheel 21. The slide 42 is returned by a spring (not shown) to the gripping 
position (situation shown in FIG. 3) except if a cam 48 pushes it back 
towards the body 26, which causes the jaws 26 to pass to the release 
position. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the cam 48 is situated only in that region of the 
periphery of the roundabout 13 in which the gripper jaws of each treatment 
device have to be moved from the gripping position to the release position 
(transfer station 19), held in the release position (passage from the 
transfer station to the gripping station) and then brought back to the 
gripping position (gripping station 14). Along the remainder of the 
periphery of the roundabout 13, as also shown at the top in FIG. 6, the 
return spring 45 holds the slide 42 in the position in which the jaws 38 
bear against the neck 2 of a bottle undergoing treatment. 
Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3, each clamp 24 is able to grip a bottle 2 in 
the upright position under the body 29 and to pivot it 180 degrees around 
the free end of the body 29 under the control of the control bar 34, in 
order to bring the bottle into an inverted position (FIG. 4) in which its 
neck is situated just above a fluid injection nozzle 49. The nozzle 49 is 
connected by means of a valve 51, fixed to the body 29, to a pressurized 
supply device 52 which is installed inside the roundabout 13 and which may 
for example comprise a pump 53 (FIG. 2) delivering into an annular pipe 54 
to which are connected all the connections 56 to the valves 51 of all the 
treatment devices 12 of the machine. 
Each valve 51 is controlled by a lever 57 which is movable between a closed 
valve position, shown in FIG. 3, and an open valve position shown in FIG. 
4. The lever carries at its end a roller 58 which is engaged in a U-shaped 
control rail 59, which is fixed to the fixed frame 37 of the machine and 
extends around said frame, as can be seen in FIG. 1. The control rail 59 
is circular and centered on the axis 32 of the rotary roundabout, except 
along the injection station 17, in such a manner as to cause each valve 51 
in the open position to pass to the injection station 17 and to hold each 
valve in the closed position along all the other stations of the treatment 
machine. 
Consequently, when a bottle 2 is at the injection station, as illustrated 
in FIG. 4, the nozzle 49 delivers a jet of fluid into the interior of the 
inverted bottle 2, through its neck. This fluid strikes the inside wall of 
the bottle 2 and trickles along the latter before passing out of the 
bottle 2 through the neck of the latter. 
The fluid thus flowing is collected through a funnel 61 which is situated 
just below the neck of the bottle 2 and which surrounds the nozzle 49 with 
a certain radial clearance between the outside wall of the nozzle 49 and 
the inside wall of the funnel 61. The opening defined by the funnel 61 
gives access to the interior of the body 29, which constitutes an 
individual receptacle for the collection of the fluid falling back from 
the bottle 2. 
By the expression "individual receptacle" it is intended to designate a 
receptacle of relatively small size, allocated to a single treatment 
device and turning with the roundabout 13 so as to remain under the necks 
of the bottles 2 undergoing treatment, particularly along the injection 
station 17. 
At its radially inner end the receptacle 29 communicates with an annular 
collector 62 mounted in the rotary roundabout 13 for the purpose of 
collecting the liquid falling back from the bottles 2 and coming from all 
the receptacles 29. 
In the example illustrated this fluid is a liquid. It may be a rinsing 
liquid such as water, which will be conducted from the collector 62 to the 
drain. It may also be a bottle-coating liquid whose cost is relatively 
high and which will be conducted from the collector 62 via a filtration 
and recycling device to the pump 53 (FIG. 2). In a manner not illustrated, 
the fluid injected by the nozzle 49 may be a gas which it is not desired 
to discharge in large amounts into the atmosphere, in which case the 
collector 62 is connected to a suction source. 
The receptacle 29 has a top closure 63 in which, in addition to the opening 
defined by the funnel 61, there are provided an opening 64 in which the 
base of the valve 51 is engaged, and a drip-collection opening 66. The 
latter is disposed in the radially outer end of the receptacle 29, that is 
to say that end of the receptacle 29 which is surrounded by the trajectory 
of the clamp 24 and of the bottle 2 carried by it between the upright and 
inverted positions of said bottle. FIG. 3 shows in dot-dash lines a 
position 2a assumed by the bottle 2 in the course of its return travel 
from the inverted position to the upright position along the bottle 
re-erection station 18 shown in FIG. 1. The position 2a, inclined less 
than 90 degrees relative to the inverted position, promotes the draining 
of the bottle after the injection undergone along the injection station, 
and the receptacle 29 collects the product of this drainage through the 
opening 66. 
The valve 51 will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 
6. 
The valve 51 comprises a stationary half-body 76 having a tubular general 
shape, which is fixed to the body-receptacle 29 with the aid of a collar 
77 and a bracket 78. At one of its ends the stationary half-body 76 is 
leaktightly connected to the connection 56. The other end of the 
stationary half-body 76 is shaped as a skirt 91 in which a movable 
half-body 79 is mounted in an axially sliding manner. The two half-bodies 
76 and 79 together form a valve body defining a flowpath 81 between an 
opening 82 associated with the stationary half-body 76 and bringing the 
latter into communication with the connection 56, and an opening 83 formed 
through the side wall of the movable half-body 79, whose end opposite to 
the stationary half-body 76 is closed by an end wall 84. 
The valve 51 also comprises a spherical closure means 86 mounted in the 
stationary half-body 76 between the opening 82 of the latter and a seat 87 
of conical general shape formed on the inside wall of the stationary 
half-body 76 in such a manner as to widen towards the opening 82, that is 
to say in the opposite direction to the other half-body. The spherical 
closure means 86 is rigidly fixed to one end of an axial rod 88, the other 
end of which is leaktightly screwed into a tapped hole 90 in the end wall 
84 of the movable half-body 79. For the purpose of effecting this screwing 
during the mounting, the closure means 86 is provided on its side facing 
the opening 82 with a slot 89, into which the end of a screwdriver can be 
inserted when the attachment to the connection 56 has not yet been made. 
The rod 88 thus extends through a part of the stationary half-body 76 and 
through the entire axial length of the movable half-body 79. 
Through the sliding of the movable half-body 79 in the terminal skirt 91 of 
the stationary half-body 76, the closure means 86 is movable between the 
closed position shown in FIG. 5, in which it bears leaktightly against the 
seat 87, and an open position shown in FIG. 6, in which it has been moved 
away from the seat, while the movable half-body 79 is in a retracted 
position inside the skirt 91. 
The valve 51 also comprises means for returning the closure means 86 to the 
closed position, and sealing means between the two half-bodies 76 and 79. 
These return means and sealing means consist of a single member, namely a 
sleeve 92 made of a silicone plastic material, which is mounted around the 
rod 88 with, between them, an annular space defining a part of the 
flowpath 81. The sleeve is inserted axially between an annular shoulder 93 
on the stationary half-body 76 and an annular shoulder 94 on the movable 
half-body 79. The sleeve 92 is compressed elastically in the axial 
direction between the shoulders 93 and 94, which has the effect of causing 
it to bear leaktightly against each of the two shoulders 93 and 94 and to 
urge the two half-bodies 76 and 79 axially apart, and therefore to apply 
the closure means 86 against its seat 87 with a force substantially 
corresponding to the elastic compressive force of the sleeve in this 
relative position of the two half-bodies. 
Each half-body 76 and 79 has around its shoulder 93 and 94 respectively a 
centering surface 96 cooperating with the corresponding end of the outside 
lateral surface of the sleeve 92 in order to center the latter on the 
general axis of the valve 51. The sleeve 92 has a cylindrical inside 
surface 97 extending over its entire axial length and having the same 
diameter as bores 98 and 99 adjoining the sleeve and belonging to the 
half-bodies 76 and 79 respectively. Said inside surface 97 is thus 
connected continuously to the bores 98 and 99 in order to give the 
flowpath, between the closure means 86 and the opening 83, a smooth 
configuration of annular cross-section, the rod 88 being itself 
cylindrical with a diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the wall 
97 and of the bores 98 and 99. 
A clearance 101 is provided around the sleeve 92 between the two centering 
surfaces 96, in order to enable the sleeve 92 to swell slightly in the 
outward direction when, as illustrated in FIG. 6, it is axially compressed 
in order to cause the closure means 86 to pass to the open position. 
In the example illustrated the sleeve 92 has an outside surface which is 
cylindrical and coaxial with its cylindrical inside surface 97, so that 
the sleeve 92 can be produced by cutting up a single tube made of a 
silicone plastic material. 
In order to bring about the passage of the closure means 86 to the open 
position against the return action exerted by the sleeve 92, the actuating 
lever 57 is axially fastened to a cam 102 which selectively effects the 
displacement of a lever 103, which has an axis 107 fastened to the 
receptacle 29 and which is supported, at a distance from the axis 107, on 
a shoulder 104 on the movable half-body 79. 
As also shown in FIG. 6, when the half-body 79 is actuated in the direction 
of the opening of the closure means 86, this gives rise to an upward 
movement of the nozzle 49, which is rigidly connected to the movable 
half-body 79 in such a way as to be in leaktight communication with the 
opening 83. This may cause the nozzle 49 to penetrate slightly into the 
neck of the bottle 2, and it reinforces the accuracy of the injection. 
As shown in a half-view in FIG. 6, it is possible to contemplate the 
fitting in the funnel 61 of a sealing bellows 108, the movable portion of 
which is supported by a rigid ring 109 connected to the nozzle 49 by rigid 
bars 111. When the nozzle 49 rises together with the half-body 79, it 
applies the bellows 108 leaktightly against the neck of the bottle, as 
illustrated. This is advantageous when the fluid used is a gas which it is 
desired to collect in the receptacle 29 by suction. 
A pipe 106 connecting the nozzle 49 to the opening 83 extends freely inside 
the body-receptacle 29. 
The valve 51 provides the advantage of having a smooth flowpath 81 which 
does not encourage the accumulation of deposits, and of not having a 
dynamic seal for controlling the valve, that is to say of not requiring 
one of the half-bodies to have, passing leak-tightly through it, a member 
controlling the closure means. 
The operation of the treatment machine will now be explained: 
The bottles 2 brought by the inlet conveyor 1 and suitably spaced by the 
spacer screw 4 are delivered by the inlet star wheel 7 to the successive 
treatment devices 12. The cam 48 controls the closing of each clamp 24 at 
the moment when the inlet star wheel 7 has placed a bottle between its 
jaws. 
After the closing of a clamp, the guide bar 34 controls, by its helical 
region 34a, the gradual inversion of the bottle 2 in question, this 
inversion being completed at the beginning of the injection station 17 
slightly before the control rail 59 effects the opening of the valve 51 
and consequently the injection of fluid through the nozzle 49. After the 
injection the bottle is held for a certain time in the inverted position 
in order to enable it to drain, and thereafter the control bar 34 effects 
the re-erection of the bottle along the re-erection station 18 until the 
bottle is received in one of the compartments of the outlet star wheel 21, 
whereafter the cam 48 effects the opening of the clamp to enable the 
bottle to be conducted from the transfer station 19 to the outlet conveyor 
3. 
In the example shown in FIG. 7, the sanitary mixer comprises two valves 51 
identical to that shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, which are mounted parallel to 
one another, one of them controlling a cold water pipe 121 and the other a 
hot water pipe 122. The valves 51 are controlled by one and the same lever 
123, which is articulated on a frame 124 by a ball joint 126 situated 
midway between the two movable half-bodies 79 against which the lever 
bears. 
A cylindrical cam 127 is mounted slidably, without being able to turn, on 
an axis 128 rotatably supported in a bore 129 in the body 124. The active 
part of the cam 127 bears against the lever 123 at a point 131 which 
varies in dependence on the angular position of the axis 128 and which is 
thus more or less close to one of the half-bodies 79 and less or more 
close to the other half-body 79, respectively. 
If, as illustrated by way of example, the point 131 is close to the valve 
51 of the pipe 121, the corresponding sleeve 92 is more compressed than 
the other and the water supplied to the common outlet tube 132 is 
relatively cool. 
A control handle 133 articulated on the axis 128 on a diametrical axis 134 
makes it possible to turn the axis 128 in order thus to regulate the 
temperature of the water supplied through the outlet tube 132. 
The handle 133 is fastened to two opposite flow regulating cams 136, which, 
when the handle 133 pivots about its diametrical axis 134, drive the 
cylindrical cam 127 to a greater or lesser extent towards the lever 123, 
in such a manner as to compress, conjointly, the two sleeves 92 to a 
greater or lesser extent in order to regulate the flow without 
substantially varying the temperature of the mixture.