A machine for filling a container having a longitudinal axis is disclosed. The machine comprises a conveying device, and at least one handling unit moved by the conveying device along a path. The at least one handling unit comprises a support device configured to receive and retain the container, and at least one filling device configured to feed a pourable product into the container as the at least one handling unit travels along the path. The machine further comprises an actuator configured to rotate the container about the longitudinal axis while the container is filled with the pourable product by the at least one filling device.

A container filling arrangement for filling bottles and similar containers with a beverage and a method of operating the container filling arrangement.

The present invention relates to a packaging method for packaging a pourable product in at least one container, by means of which it is obtained an improvement in the flexibility of the packaging machine configured for carrying out the method with regards to the type of the product which is to be packaged, and to a machine configured for carrying out the method.

A filling unit (1) for filling containers (90) of a first type, such as bottles, and for filling containers (95) of a second type, such as cans, with a liquid substance (99). The filling unit (1) comprises: a resting plate (12) for a container to be filled; a housing (2) which faces towards the plate (12) and is configured to receive a mouth of the container; a dispenser (3) which opens onto the housing (2) and faces the plate (12), so as to dispense the liquid substance (99) towards the container; a valve (4) which is controllable for allowing and preventing the liquid substance (99) to be dispensed from the dispenser (3). The plate (12) is movable towards or, vice versa, away from the dispenser (3), The housing (2) comprises a bottom wall (24), on which the dispenser (3) opens, and a lateral wall (25), formed at least partly by an annular body (6) that is movable relative to the bottom wall (24), moving towards or, vice versa, away from the plate (12), The housing (2) is fitted with a first annular gasket (21) and a second annular gasket (22): the first annular gasket (21) is smaller in size than the second annular gasket (22) and is positioned on the bottom wall (24); the second annular gasket (22) is mounted on the annular body (6). After a container (90) of the first type has been positioned on the plate (12), the plate (12) is moved towards the dispenser (3) to bring the mouth (91) of the container (90) into contact with the first annular gasket (21). After a container (95) of the second type has been positioned on the plate (12), the annular body (6) of the housing (2) is moved towards the plate (12) to bring the second annular gasket (22) into contact with the mouth (96) of the container (95).

A filling unit (1) for filling containers (90) of a first type, such as bottles, and for filling containers (95) of a second type, such as cans, with a liquid substance (99). The filling unit (1) comprises a housing (2), configured to receive a mouth of the container, and a dispenser (3) for dispensing the liquid substance (99) through a dispensing opening (30) towards the container. The housing (2) comprises a cavity (26) which is delimited by a bottom wall (24), on which the dispenser (3) opens, and by a lateral wall (25) which at least partly has a truncated cone shape. The housing (2) is fitted with a first annular gasket (21) for the mouth (91) of a container (90) of the first type and a second annular gasket (22) for the mouth (96) of a container (95) of the second type. The first annular gasket (21) is smaller in size than the second annular gasket (22) and is positioned on the bottom wall (24) of the housing (2), encircling the dispensing opening (30). The dispenser (3) has a dispensing duct (31) in whose central region a flow modifier (34) is present, configured to impart a rotational motion on the liquid substance (99) passing through the dispensing duct (31), so that the liquid substance (99) comes out of the dispensing opening (30) with a helical flow. When filling a container (90) of the first type, the liquid substance (99) coming out of the dispensing opening (30) is dispensed directly into the mouth (91) of the container (90) and flows onto an internal surface of a lateral wall of the container (90). When filling a container (95) of the second type, the liquid substance (99) coming out of the dispensing opening (30) flows onto the lateral wall (25) of the housing (2) and, after having entered the mouth (96) of the container (95), flows onto an internal surface of a lateral wall of the container (95).

A filling unit (1) for filling containers (90) of a first type, such as bottles, and for filling containers (95) of a second type, such as cans, with a liquid substance (99). The filling unit (1) comprises a dispenser (3), which in use faces towards a mouth of the container to be filled so as to dispense the liquid substance (99) through a dispensing opening (30) towards an internal volume of the container, and a valve (4) which is controllable for allowing and preventing the liquid substance (99) to be dispensed from the dispenser (3). The filling unit (1) further comprises a level sensor (51) for detecting a filled level of the liquid substance (99) in the container, a volume meter (52) for measuring a volume of the liquid substance (99) fed to the dispenser (3), and a control system for controlling the valve (4). The control system is configured to control the valve (4) based on the filled level detected by the level sensor (51), when the filling unit (1) is used for filling a container (90) of the first type, and is configured to control the valve (4) based on the fed volume that is measured by the volume meter, when the filling unit (1) is used for filling a container (95) of the second type.

A device for distributing fluid media for a rotary machine, in particular a filling machine, including: a rotary distributor having a non-rotatably designed first assembly and a second assembly designed to be rotatable about a machine's axis of rotation, wherein the first assembly comprises one or several supply points for at least one fluid medium, and one or several supply lines for the at least one fluid medium connected with the supply point or supply points, wherein at least one supply line includes two or more lying swivel joints whose axes of rotation are arranged essentially in parallel to the machine's axis of rotation.

An apparatus and method for handling a container, comprising filling the container with a filling product, for example with a beverage in a beverage bottling plant, wherein the apparatus has: a valve main body with an outlet for introducing the filling product into the container and with a swirl chamber which is fluidically connected to the outlet and is configured to induce a swirling motion in the filling product as the latter is being introduced into the container; a valve cone which is at least partially arranged in the valve body, defines an axial direction and through which a gas duct penetrates in the axial direction; and a sensor device with a sensor head which is configured to detect at least one signal and is arranged in the gas duct.

The invention concerns a method for filling a thermoplastic container (2), comprising a mouth (2a), with a gasified liquid having a pressure (P), said method using a filling unit (1) and comprising the steps of: —Positioning the container (2) under a filling head (3) of the filling unit (1), the filling head (3) comprising a product filling valve (8); —Establishing fluid tight connection between the filling head (3) and the mouth (2a) of the container (2); —Delivering a first volume of a first product (FL) in the container, said first volume being less than 10% of the maximum defined volume of the container; —Pressurizing the container (2) with a pressurized gas (G) at a pressure similar to the pressure (P) of the gasified liquid to be filled, using at least one pressurization valve (9a, 9b); —Filling the container (2) under pressurized condition until its maximum defined volume with the gasified liquid (PL), using the product filling valve (8); —Depressurizing the container (2) using a venting valve (10); —Separating the container (2) from the filling head (3); the resulting gasified liquid in the container (2) being a mixture of the first product (FL) and of the gasified liquid (PL). The invention is also related to the associated devices.

The invention relates to a cable fixing device for a container handling system and to a method for setting a minimum bending radius for a connecting cable of a container handling system. The cable fixing device comprises a main body, a cable guide which is arranged around a part of the main body, and a cover for covering an end of the cable guide in such a way that a connecting cable, which is pre-assembled with plug-in devices at both ends, can be introduced between the cover and the cable guide. The cable guide is configured at its other end for fixing of the connecting cable in such a way that a looping angle of the cable fixing device and connecting cable can be set variably.