Machine and Method for Filling Containers With Liquid Contents

Abstract

A filling machine includes filling elements, each having a seal that seals a container's mouth, a filling valve, a gas valve, a liquid channel that, when the filling valve is opened, is in fluid communication with the container's interior, and a gas channel that, when the gas valve is open, is in fluid communication with the container's interior. The filling machine introduces an inert gas into the container's interior via the gas channel to create a preload pressure in the container such that the inert gas in the container dissolves in the liquid when the liquid is later introduced into the container. The filling machine is further configured to introduce a volume of liquid into the container's interior through the liquid channel at a filling pressure that exceeds the preload pressure.

Claims

1-13 (canceled)

14. An apparatus comprising a filling machine that fills containers with liquid, said filling machine comprising filling positions, each of which comprises a filling element, wherein each of said filling elements comprises a seal that seals a container's mouth, a filling valve, a gas valve, a liquid channel that, when said filling valve is opened, is in fluid communication with said container's interior, and a gas channel that, when said gas valve is open, is in fluid communication with said container's interior, wherein said filling machine is configured to introduce an inert gas into said container's interior via said gas channel to create a preload pressure in said container such that said inert gas in said container dissolves in said liquid, wherein said filling machine is further configured to introduce a volume of liquid into said container's interior through said liquid channel at a filling pressure that exceeds said preload pressure, and wherein said inert gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen gas and carbon-dioxide gas.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said filling machine is configured to introduce, into said container's interior, an amount of inert gas that is equal to the difference between an amount of inert gas dissolved in said volume of liquid and a desired amount of inert gas to be dissolved in said volume of liquid.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said filling machine is configured to cause said preload pressure to be between two bar and five bar.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein each filling element further comprises a vacuum valve and a vacuum channel that is in fluid connection with said container's interior when said vacuum valve is open.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said filling element is configured to measure pressure in said container's interior.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein each filling element comprises a protection space and a closing device, wherein said protection space is adjacent to said seal, and wherein said closing device is configured to close said container with a closure while said container is in said protection space.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a rotating rotor, wherein said filling positions are arranged on said rotor.

21. A method of using a filling machine to fill containers with liquid, said filling machine comprising filling positions, each of which comprises a filling element, wherein each of said filling elements comprises a seal that seals a container's mouth, a filling valve, a gas valve, a liquid channel that, when said filling valve is opened, is in fluid communication with said container's interior, and a gas channel that, when said gas valve is open, is in fluid communication with said container's interior, wherein said filling machine is configured to introduce an inert gas into said container's interior via said gas channel to create a preload pressure in said container such that said inert gas in said container dissolves in said liquid, wherein said filling machine is further configured to introduce a volume of liquid into said container's interior through said liquid channel at a filling pressure that exceeds said preload pressure, and wherein said inert gas is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen gas and carbon-dioxide gas, said method comprising causing a preload pressure in said container, wherein causing said preload pressure comprises opening said gas valve to permit a quantity of said inert gas to enter said container through said gas channel, wherein said quantity of said inert gas, when dissolved into said volume, causes said volume of said liquid to have a desired quantity of dissolved inert gas.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising introducing said volume of liquid into said container, wherein said inert gas in said container dissolves in said liquid as said liquid is introduced.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein causing said preload pressure further comprises measuring pressure in said container.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising evacuating said container prior to causing said preload pressure in said container.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising flushing said container with said inert gas prior to causing said preload pressure in said container, wherein flushing said container comprises concurrently connecting said container's interior to a source of said inert gas and to a vacuum.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising accommodating a closure in a protection space adjacent to said seal, introducing said liquid into said container, after having introduced said liquid, setting a pressure in said container to be above saturation pressure of dissolved inert gas in said liquid, closing said container with said closure, and releasing said container.

27. The method of claim 21, further comprising introducing said liquid into said container, after having introduced said liquid, setting a pressure in said container to be equal to saturation pressure of dissolved inert gas in said liquid, stirring said liquid for a predetermined period of time, relaxing said pressure in said container to atmospheric pressure, and transporting said container to a closing device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter on the basis of the Figures in respect of exemplary embodiments. The Figures show, by way of example:

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a view from above a filling machine,

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a section through one of the filling elements shown in FIG. 1, and

[0035] FIG. 3 shows a side view of an alternative filling element.

[0036] Identical reference numbers are used in the Figures for elements of the invention that are the same or have the same effect. In addition, for the sake of easier overview, only reference numbers are represented in the Figures that are required for the description of the respective Figure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a filling machine 1 having a rotor 2 that rotates about a vertical axis “A”. The rotor's circumference has filling positions 2, each of which comprises a filling element 4. During operation, an inlet star 6 provides the rotor 2 with containers 5 that are to be filled. The rotor 2 moves the containers 5 in a transport direction as it fills them. It then transfers the filled containers 5 to an outlet star 7 that conveys them on for further processing.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows one of the filling elements 4 engaged with a container 5 that is to be filled. Although the container 5 shown herein is a bottle, other containers, such as cans, can also be filled.

[0039] The filling element's underside features a seal 8 that seals the container's mouth 5.1, thereby isolating the container's interior 5.2 from ambient air surrounding the container 5. In the illustrated embodiments, the seal 8 is a ring seal.

[0040] The filling element 4 further comprises a liquid channel 9, a gas channel 10, and a vacuum channel 11, each of which is in fluid communication with the container's interior 5.2. The filling element 4 also includes a filling valve 12 that closes the liquid channel 9, a gas valve 13 that closes the gas channel 10, and a vacuum valve 14 for closing the vacuum channel 11.

[0041] Once the mouth 5.1 has been sealed at the seal 8, an evacuation step is carried out by opening the vacuum valve 14 opens to evacuate air from the container's interior 5.2 and closing it shortly thereafter.

[0042] In some cases, the vacuum is strong enough to evacuate nearly all the ambient air, in which case filling can commence thereafter. In other cases, too much residual air remains. Under these circumstances, a gas-insertion step is carried out by opening the gas valve 13 for a specific period of time, thereby allowing an inert gas from a gas source to flow through the gas channel 10 and into the container's interior 5.2. This fills the container's interior 5.2 with a mixture of mostly inert gas with some residual air. The foregoing is then evacuation step is then repeated. This gas-insertion step is then followed by another evacuation step. These steps are as often as needed to attain a sufficiently low concentration of ambient air in the container's interior 5.2.

[0043] An alternative embodiment replaces the evacuation step with a flushing step, in which the container's interior 5.2 is flushed with inert gas. This is carried out by opening the gas valve 13 and vacuum valve 14 concurrently so that inert gas flows into the container 5 as a mixture of air and carbon dioxide is sucked out of the container, with the ratio of air in the mixture progressively decreasing.

[0044] Another embodiment avoids the foregoing steps by providing a container 5 already filled with inert gas to the filling element 4, thereby obviating the need for the vacuum channel 11 and the vacuum valve 14.

[0045] To prepare the container 5 for filling, the container is filled, via the gas channel 10, with enough inert gas to achieve a predetermined preload pressure in the container's interior 5.2. This preload pressure is high enough to cause the inert gas to dissolve in the liquid as the liquid fills the container 5. In a preferred embodiment, inert gas in the container 5 dissolves immediately as the liquid flows into the container 5.

[0046] Preferably, the liquid enters the container 5 with no dissolved inert gas or only a small amount of dissolved inert gas. The quantity of inert gas present in the container 5 is the difference between the amount of inert gas already dissolved, if any, and the desired amount of dissolved inert gas. For the case in which the inert gas is carbon dioxide, a preload pressure of one bar corresponds to approximately two grams of dissolved carbon dioxide per liter. To carbonate a completely uncarbonated liquid to achieve the typical value of eight grams per liter, the preload pressure is approximately four bar.

[0047] In some embodiments, a pressure sensor measures pressure in the container's interior 5.2. The resulting measurement provides a basis for controlling the gas valve 13 to attain the desired preload pressure in the container's interior 5.2. In other embodiments, different methods for attaining the desired preload pressure are used.

[0048] Upon reaching the desired preload pressure, the gas valve 13 closes and the filling valve 12 opens. This permits the liquid to flow through the liquid channel 9 from a reservoir into the container 5. Since the container's interior 5.2 has been pressurized to a preload pressure, it is necessary to pressurize the liquid with a filling pressure that exceeds the preload pressure.

[0049] When the desired volume of liquid has entered the container 5, the filling valve 12 closes. Attainment of the desired liquid volume can be determined based on a predetermined filling time or based on a measurement from a flowmeter or a filling-level probe.

[0050] Upon completion of filling, the head space at the container's mouth 5.1 is pressurized to the liquid's saturation pressure. At this point, the inert gas will have been dissolved into the liquid.

[0051] The pressurization step is carried out by measuring the pressure with a pressure sensor and either introducing additional inert gas via the gas channel 10 or removing inert gas via the vacuum channel 11. With the pressure having been thus set, stirring of the liquid present in the container 5 takes place over a predetermined period of time, after which the vacuum valve 14 is then opened and the pressure in the container's interior 5.2 is relaxed to atmospheric pressure.

[0052] The container 5 is next drawn downwards, thereby breaking the seal between the seal 8 and the container's mouth 5.1. The container is then transported to a closing machine that closes the container 5.

[0053] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of a filling element 4 that features a closure device 15 that closes the container 5 with a closure 16, which in the illustrated embodiment is a crown cork.

[0054] The container 5 to be filled is first introduced from below into a cut-out opening of the filling element 4. The seal 8, which is again a ring seal, then surrounds the container 5 from the outside such that the cut-out opening in the filling element 4 forms a protection space 17 that isolates various components from the from the surrounding environment. These include the container's mouth 5.1, an end of the liquid channel 9, an end of the gas channel 10, an end of the vacuum channel, which is not visible in FIG. 3, and the closure 16.

[0055] The evacuation, flushing, and pressure preloading of the container 5 are carried out in the same manner as that described in connection with FIG. 2.

[0056] In the illustrated embodiment, the end of the liquid channel 9 opens onto a side of the protection space 17. The liquid thus has to make a turn to enter the container 5. An angled connecting-channel 16 enables this turn to be carried out.

[0057] A thruster 18 pushes the angled connecting channel 16 sideways into the protection space 17 towards the opening of the liquid channel 8. The thruster 18 pushes the connecting channel 16 into the protection space 17 in such a way that one end of the connecting channel 19 connects to the end of the liquid channel 9 and the other end of the connecting channel 19 comes to lie directly above the container's mouth 5.1, thereby ensuring reliable filling of liquid into the container 5.

[0058] After the filling of the liquid into the container 5, the thrust element 18 and the connecting channel 19 are retracted. If necessary, the pressure in the protection space 17 is adjusted to a pressure that is above the saturation pressure of the liquid that is now in the container 5.

[0059] In embodiment shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to avoid the waiting time that arises from having to stir the liquid in the container 5. This is carried out by closing the container 5 at the pressure prevailing in the protection space 17. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 thus promotes more rapid filling.

[0060] The closure 16, which was previously into the protection space 17, is held over the container's mouth 5.1. A counter-holder 20 presses the cover 16 onto the container's mouth 5.1. A pull ring 21, which is arranged concentrically around the counter-holder 20, then draws the sides of the crown cork 16 over the container's mouth 5.1, thereby closing the container 5.

[0061] After removing the seal 8 from the container 5, the container 5 is drawn downwards out of the protection space 17 and then transported onwards for further processing.

[0062] The invention has been described heretofore by way of exemplary embodiments. It is understood that a large number of modifications or derivations are possible without thereby departing from the scope of protection of the invention defined by the claims.

[0063] In particular, inert gases other than carbon dioxide can be used. For example, some embodiments uses nitrogen gas as an inert gas, in which case nitrogen rather than carbon dioxide is dissolved in the liquid.