Climate control of direct printing machines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11460199-B2
Application number	US-201816052428-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2018
Priority date	Sep 4, 2017
Publication date	Oct 4, 2022
Grant date	Oct 4, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a device for climate control of an interior of a machine in a food and beverage industry. The device includes an air discharge system for discharging air from the interior of the machine. The air discharge system includes a first air extraction duct configured for first selective extraction of contaminated air or second selective extraction of high-temperature air or at least two separate air extraction ducts including a first air extraction duct configured for the first selective extraction of the contaminated air and a second air extraction duct configured for the second selective extraction of the high-temperature air. The device further includes an air supply system for supplying air to the interior of the machine. The supplied air includes at least one of fresh air or purified extracted air.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for climate control of an interior of a machine in a food and beverage industry, the device comprising:
an air discharge system for discharging air from the interior of the machine, the air discharge system comprising:
a first air extraction duct configured for first selective extraction of contaminated air; and
a second air extraction duct configured for second selective extraction of high-temperature air, wherein the first air extraction duct and the second air extraction duct of the air discharge system are configured at least in part as ring lines in a ceiling region of the interior of the machine; and
an air supply system for supplying air to the interior of the machine, wherein the supplied air comprises at least one of fresh air or purified extracted air.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the machine is a direct printing machine, the contaminated air is print mist, and the high-temperature air is air heated by light sources for at least one of hardening or curing of inks.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is configured to create a first pressure within the machine that is greater than a second pressure exterior to the machine.

4. The device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
an air purification unit for purifying air extracted through the air discharge system; or
an air cooling unit for cooling air to be supplied to the interior of the machine.

5. The device of claim 4 , wherein the air purification unit comprises an activated carbon filter.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein one or more structural machine components of the machine are configured as air ducts for at least one of the supplying of the air to the interior of the machine or the discharging of the air from the interior of the machine.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the air supply system comprises a ring manifold for the supplying of the air in the ceiling region of the interior of the machine or on a ceiling in an outer region of the machine.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the air discharge system comprises a central discharge in the ceiling region of the interior of the machine for extraction of air from the interior of the machine.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the air supply system comprises a plurality of air supply openings for selective supply of air to the interior of the machine.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein a majority of the plurality of air supply openings are arranged in a bottom region of the interior of the machine.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein one or more of the plurality of air supply openings comprise a control valve for regulating the supplying of the air to the interior of the machine.

12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a plurality of air outlet openings that permit air to escape from the interior of the machine to a space surrounding the machine.

13. A method for climate control of an interior of a machine in a food and beverage industry, the method comprising:
discharging air from the interior of the machine via a first air extraction duct and a second air extraction duct, wherein contaminated air is selectively extracted via the first air extraction duct, wherein high-temperature air is selectively extracted at via the second air extraction duct, and wherein the first air extraction duct and the second air extraction duct of an air discharge system are configured at least in part as ring lines in a ceiling region of the interior of the machine; and
supplying air to the interior of the machine, wherein the supplied air comprises at least one of fresh air or purified extracted air.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first air extraction duct selectively extracts the contaminated air at components of the machine, and wherein the high-temperature air is selectively extracted at the components of the machine via the second air extraction duct.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the machine is a direct printing machine, the contaminated air is print mist, and the high-temperature air is air heated by light sources for at least one of hardening or curing of inks.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the discharged air is at least one of purified, temperature-controlled, dried, or humidified before at least a portion of the air discharged from the interior of the machine is again returned to the interior of the machine.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the supplying of the air to the interior of the machine creates a first pressure in the interior of the machine that is greater than a second pressure external to the machine, wherein air from the interior of the machine is purged via air outlet openings of the machine to a space surrounding said machine.

18. A direct printing machine for use in a food and beverage industry for printing onto containers, the direct printing machine comprising:
a device for climate control, the device comprising:
an air discharge system for discharging air from an interior of the direct printing machine, the air discharge system comprising:
a first air extraction duct configured for first selective extraction of contaminated air; and
a second air extraction duct configured for second selective extraction of high-temperature air, wherein the first air extraction duct and the second air extraction duct of the air discharge system are configured at least in part as ring lines in a ceiling region of the interior of the direct printing machine; and

an air supply system for supplying air to the interior of the direct printing machine, wherein the supplied air comprises at least one of fresh air or purified extracted air.

Assignees

• Krones Ag

Inventors

• Peutl August
• Weigl Franz
• Becher Valentin

Classifications

• B41J3/4073

  Printing on three-dimensional objects not being in sheet or web form, e.g. spherical or cubic objects (B41J3/283, B41J3/286 take precedence; building up a 3D object using individual droplets from jetting heads B29C64/112) · CPC title

• B41J3/40733

  Printing on cylindrical or rotationally symmetrical objects, e. g. on bottles · CPC title

• B41J29/377 Primary

  Cooling or ventilating arrangements · CPC title

• B41J29/17

  Cleaning arrangements · CPC title

• B41J2/1714

  Conditioning of the outside of ink supply systems, e.g. inkjet collector cleaning, ink mist removal (B41J2/08, B41J2/16517, B41J2/18 take precedence) · CPC title