Apparatus and method for cleaning containers

An apparatus for cleaning containers having an open mouth end comprising

• a cleaning bay,
• container support means for holding a set of inverted containers of a predetermined size and in a predetermined spaced relationship within said cleaning bay,
• transporting means for transporting said container support means into and out of said cleaning bay,
• fluid stream supply means including at least two independently operable nozzle banks disposed within said cleaning bay generally below the transporting means for said container support means, .each of said nozzle banks having a set of elongated nozzle elements for emitting a stream of fluid, the nozzle elements of each of said nozzle banks being different in length and spacing from the nozzle elements of the other of said nozzle banks so that an independently operable nozzle bank can be selected in accordance with the size and spacing of containers loaded onto said container support means,
• means for registering the nozzle elements of a selected one of said nozzle banks with the mouth ends of the containers held in said container support means,
• means operative over a defined process cycle for cycling the selected nozzle bank in a forward and return movement that causes the nozzle elements of the selected nozzle bank to traverse through the mouth ends of said set of containers registered therewith, and
• fluid control means for activating said fluid stream supply means such that a fluid stream is emitted from the nozzle elements of the selected nozzle bank to provide a direct stream of fluid to the inside surfaces of said set of containers when said nozzle elements traverse through said containers.

An apparatus for cleaning containers having an open mouth end comprising

• a cleaning bay,
• support rails longitudinally extending through said cleaning bay for movably supporting a container support tray wherein said container support tray is adapted to hold a set of inverted containers arranged in aligned rows and in a predetermined spaced relationship and at a defined support plane,
• support tray drive means for picking up and positionably moving a container support tray on said support rails, said drive means including position feedback means for precisely positioning said container support tray along the support rails within said cleaning bay,
• fluid stream supply means including at least one nozzle bank disposed within said cleaning bay below said container support plain, said nozzle bank having a set of elongated nozzle elements, said nozzle elements being arranged in an a row of nozzle elements having a spaced relationship which corresponds to the spaced relationship of the rows of inverted containers held on said support tray,
• nozzle bank drive means for advancing the nozzle elements of said nozzle bank in a motion substantially parallel to said support plane so as to bring said row of nozzle elements into successive registration with different rows of containers held on said support tray,
• means operative over a defined process cycle for cycling said nozzle bank in a forward and return movement at each row of containers so as to causes said row of nozzle elements to successively traverse through the mouth ends of each row of containers registered therewith, and
• fluid control means for activating said fluid stream supply means such that a fluid stream is emitted from said row of nozzle elements when said nozzle elements traverse through the each row of containers registered therewith.

A method of cleaning containers having an open mouth end comprised of the steps of

• selecting a set of containers of a predetermined size and spaced relationship and supporting said set of containers in an inverted position,
• transporting said supported set of containers to a position which is generally above at least two independently operable nozzle banks wherein each of said nozzle banks has a different arrangement of nozzle elements to correspond with different predetermined spaced relationships of different containers sets of a different size,
• selecting one of said independently operable nozzle banks in accordance with the size and spaced relationship of the container set supported above said nozzle banks,
• registering nozzle elements of said selected nozzle bank with the mouth ends of said set of containers,
• cycling the selected nozzle bank in a forward and return movement to cause said nozzle elements thereof to traverse through the mouth ends of the set of containers registered therewith, and
• during the cycling of said set of nozzle elements emitting a fluid stream from said set of nozzle elements when said nozzle elements traverse through the mouth ends of said set of container so as to provide direct fluid stream to inside surfaces of said container.

An apparatus for cleaning containers having an open mouth end comprising

• a cleaning bay,
• substantially horizontal support rails extending through said cleaning bay for movably supporting container support trays within said cleaning bay and wherein said container support trays are adapted to hold different sets of inverted containers within said cleaning bay, each of such sets of containers being of a predetermined size which is different from the other sets of containers and being arranged in aligned rows and in a predetermined spaced relationship,
• support tray drive means for picking up and positionably moving a container support tray on said support rails, said drive means including position feedback means for precisely positioning said container support tray along the support rails within said cleaning bay,
• fluid stream supply means including at least two nozzle banks disposed within said cleaning bay below the plane of the containers held by a container support tray supported on said support rails, each of said nozzle banks having a row of substantially identical and substantially equally spaced nozzle elements, the size and spacing of the nozzle elements of each said nozzle bank being different from the size and spacing of nozzle elements of other nozzle banks such that the different nozzle banks provide a nozzle element size and spacing which correspond to different sized container sets held by said container support tray,
• nozzle bank drive means for advancing said nozzle banks in a substantially horizontal motion beneath a set of containers held on a container support tray positioned in said cleaning bay so as to bring the row of nozzle elements of a selected one of said nozzle banks into successive registration with different container rows within said set of containers,
• means operative over a defined process cycle for cycling the selected nozzle bank in a forward and return movement at each row of said set of containers so as to cause the row of nozzle elements of the selected nozzle bank to traverse through the mouth ends of each row of containers registered therewith to provide a direct fluid stream to inside surfaces of said containers, and
• fluid control means for activating said fluid stream supply means such that a fluid stream is emitted from said row of nozzle elements of the selected nozzle bank when said nozzle elements cycled through each row of containers registered therewith.