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US-12624307-B2 - Lubrication of transfer plates using an oil or oil in water emulsions

US12624307B2US 12624307 B2US12624307 B2US 12624307B2US-12624307-B2

Abstract

This disclosure relates to transfer plate lubricant compositions and methods of transporting open containers across stationary transfer plates.

Inventors

  • Eric D. Morrison
  • Chad A. Thompson

Assignees

  • ECOLAB USA INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20250117

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method of lubricating a stationary transfer plate comprising: applying a lubricant composition to the stationary transfer plate, the lubricant composition comprising: a silicone oil; an emulsifier selected from the group consisting of lecithin, ethoxysorbitan monostearate, glycerol monooleate, and 20 mole ethoxylated castor oil; and water.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicone oil comprises polydimethylsiloxane.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicone oil is in the lubricant composition in an amount from about 0.0005 wt. % to about 0.10 wt. %.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied by pumping the lubricant composition upward from holes in the stationary transfer plate.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied from at least one nozzle or bubbler.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied from up to 6 nozzles or bubblers.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied at a rate of about 6 gallons to about 8 gallons per hour per nozzle or bubbler.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied continuously.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied discontinuously.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transporting containers over the stationary transfer plate in a single file at a rate of up of 2200 containers per minute.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transporting filled, unclosed containers across the stationary transfer plate with a forward translational velocity of greater than 40 feet per minute.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition is applied to the stationary transfer plate in an amount between about 1 mg/hour and about 100 mg/hour.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the filled, unclosed containers move across the stationary transfer plate at a forward translational velocity greater than that of a moving conveyer belt.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition further comprises one or more components selected from the group consisting of hydrophilic diluent, antimicrobial agents, stabilizing agents, coupling agents, detergents, dispersing agents, corrosion inhibitors, chelants, water soluble lubricants, and combinations thereof.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the lubricant composition to the stationary transfer plates floods a plate surface with about 0.05 mL/cm 2 to about 0.2 mL/cm 2 .
  16. 16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the silicone oil is part of a silicone emulsion.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the silicone emulsion comprises about 30 wt. % to about 70 wt. % of water.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the lubricant composition further comprises at least one of the following: (a) a water insoluble organic compound including two or more ester linkages; (b) a water insoluble organic compound including three or more oxygen atoms; (c) a water insoluble organic compound including three or more oxygen atoms, one ester group, and one or more remaining or free hydroxyl groups; (d) an ester of a long chain carboxylic acid with a short chain alcohol; (e) an ester having an alcohol with 2 or more hydroxyl groups each being coupled to a carboxylic acid as an ester group; (f) synthetic ester oil; (g) free fatty acid; (h) synthetic or natural hydrocarbon; (i) an ester of a monocarboxylic fatty acid and a di- or poly-carboxylic acid; (j) a natural oil; and (k) mixtures thereof.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the emulsifier is present in the lubricant composition in an amount from about 0.0001 wt. % to about 0.05 wt. %.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of the silicone oil and the emulsifier in the lubricant composition is less than 5000 ppm.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/459,660, filed on Sep. 1, 2023 entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions”, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,281,280, issued Apr. 22, 2025, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/700,232, filed on Mar. 21, 2022 entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,788,028, issued Oct. 17, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/076,067, filed Oct. 21, 2020, entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,312,919, issued Apr. 26, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/436,017, filed Jun. 10, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,844,314, issued Nov. 24, 2020, entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions”, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/845,617, filed Dec. 18, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,316,267, issued Jun. 11, 2019, entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions”, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/202,399, filed Mar. 10, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,873,853, issued Jan. 23, 2018, entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using an Oil or Oil in Water Emulsions”, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/776,049, filed Mar. 11, 2013, entitled “Lubrication of Transfer Plates Using Oil in Water Emulsions,” which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. FIELD This disclosure relates to transfer plate lubricants and to a method for transporting unclosed containers filled with liquid product on a stationary member from a filler to a device which applies a closure to the container. BACKGROUND During most transport steps in commercial container filling or packaging operations, the container is closed and rests upon a moving conveyor belt or chain. One exception is the transfer plate where open containers are moved from where they are filled to where they are closed over a stationary plate. This transfer plate is challenging because the containers are open and prone to spilling their contents. If they spill too much, they will be rejected upon inspection. Further, if the package is not aligned properly going into the closer, the closure could be poor or the entire machine could jam. These concerns are complicated by the fact that the open containers move very quickly. It is against this background that the present disclosure has been made. SUMMARY Surprisingly, it has been discovered that transfer plates can be lubricated using a substantially aqueous lubricant composition that comprises an oil or an oil in water emulsion. In particular, it has been found that the presence of dispersed water-insoluble compounds greatly reduces the amount of surfactant normally required for adequate lubrication of transfer plates. It is further surprising that the total concentration of oil plus emulsifying surfactant taken together can be substantially less than the concentration of surfactant required in conventional container transfer lubrication which lacks a water-insoluble oil. The present disclosure provides, in one aspect, a method for lubricating the passage of an open container along a container transfer plate comprising providing a lubricating liquid layer which comprises an aqueous dispersion of oil. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a can transfer plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In commercial container filling or packaging operations, containers such as beverage containers are filled and transported from the point of filling to other stations on the filling line for subsequent processing steps such as closing, rinsing, warming or cooling, labeling, and packing. During most transport steps the container is closed and the container moves along with the conveyor surface. When containers are transported by a moving conveyor belt or chain, a conveyor lubricant may be used to reduce the coefficient of friction between the container and conveyor surface thereby facilitating differences in translational speed (i.e. slip) between the container and the conveyor that result from acceleration of the container (including increases or decreases in velocity or changes in direction) or that result from stoppage of containers situated on conveyors moving underneath. Generally, containers transported by moving conveyor belts or chains are closed and the relative motion of containers versus the moving conveyor belt is relatively low (less than about 40 feet per minute relative motion) or even close to zero. In the case of transport on moving conveyor belts or chains, accelerations of the container such as speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction result directly from traction between the container and conveyor belt. In this case, the lubricant controls the coefficient of friction w