Method for controlling a beverage filling system

Abstract

A method comprising controlling a beverage-filling system that comprises a filling machine with a ring bowl that feeds beverage to filling elements, each having a valve and a flow meter includes deriving a flow signal and using it to derive a regulating signal for regulating an inflow of beverage into the ring bowl, thereby maintaining a target level of beverage in the ring bowl. The flow signal comes from either summing signals from all flow meters to obtain aggregate quantity of beverage being filled into all containers or a calculation that relies on a measured speed of the filling machine, the number of filling elements in the filling machine, and the volumes of the bottles to be filled.

Claims

1. A method comprising controlling a beverage-filling system that comprises a circular filling machine that comprises a ring bowl and a plurality of filling elements, each of which feeds a corresponding one of said bottles, wherein each filling element comprises a flow meter and a valve that controls flow of said beverage into a bottle, wherein said ring bowl feeds beverage to each filling element, wherein said filling machine is a circular filling machine that rotates at an angular velocity while said bottles are being filled, wherein said angular velocity undergoes variation as said circular filling machine slows down, wherein controlling said filling machine comprises deriving a current-volume flow signal either by summing signals from all flow meters to define an aggregate quantity of beverage being filled into said bottles or by carrying out a calculation that relies on a measured speed of said circular filling machine and on volumes of said bottles that are to be filled, using said current-volume flow signal to derive a regulating signal for regulating an inflow of beverage into said ring bowl, based at least in part on said regulating signal, regulating inflow of beverage into said ring bowl to maintain a target level of beverage in said ring bowl, storing said an angular-velocity profile indicative of said variation in said angular velocity, measuring a current angular velocity of said circular filling machine, based on said measured current angular velocity and said stored angular velocity profile, anticipating flow of beverage out of said ring bowl, and regulating said product inflow based at least in part on said anticipated flow of beverage out of said ring bowl.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving said flow signal comprises deriving said flow signal based at least in part on said sum of signals from all flow meters, said sum defining an aggregate quantity of beverage being filled into said plurality of bottles.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving said flow signal comprises deriving said flow signal based on said calculation that relies on said measured speed of said filling machine, said number of filling elements in said filling machine, and said volumes of said bottles to be filled.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein regulating said product inflow comprises regulating said product inflow based at least in part on a signal from a filling-level sensor arranged in said ring bowl.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein regulating said product inflow comprises regulating a beverage-delivery pump arranged in a beverage-inflow line that leads to said ring bowl.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein regulating said product inflow comprises regulating a valve that is arranged in a beverage-inflow line that leads to said ring bowl.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said stored angular velocity profile is indicative of an angular-velocity profile that is followed by said filling machine as said filling machine runs up to an operating speed, wherein said method further comprises calculating an anticipated volume flow based at least in part on: said stored angular velocity profile, a target angular velocity, the number of filling elements in said filling machine, and an amount of beverage to be filled into each bottle in said plurality of bottles, and wherein said method further comprises, while said filling machine is being run up to said operating speed, regulating said product inflow at least in part based on said anticipated volume flow.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said stored angular velocity profile is indicative of an expected velocity profile that occurs when said filling machine transitions between an operating state and a stationary state, wherein said method further comprises, during a transition between said stationary state and said operating state, comparing an actual revolution speed of said filling machine with a corresponding revolution speed from said stored angular velocity profile and, based at least in part on said comparison, regulating product inflow.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining a first signal, obtaining a second signal, comparing said first and second signals, and based at least in part on said comparison, generating a correction signal for regulating product inflow, wherein said first signal is obtained from a product inflow meter and is indicative of a volume of beverage that is flowing into or out of said ring bowl.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining a first signal, obtaining a second signal, comparing said first and second signals, and based at least in part on said comparison, generating a correction signal for regulating flow of beverage into said ring tank, wherein said first signal is obtained from a product inflow meter and is indicative of volume of beverage actually flowing into said ring bowl, and wherein said second signal is indicative of an anticipated volume of beverage that will flow out of said ring bowl during a transition of said filling machine between rotating in steady-state and being stationary.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising filling a bottle with beverage by measuring a volume of beverage that is being filled into a bottle.

12. An apparatus comprising a beverage-filling system for filling bottles and a controller for controlling said beverage-filling system, said beverage filling-system comprising a filling machine, wherein said filling machine comprises a ring bowl and filling elements, each of which feeds a corresponding one of said bottles, wherein said filling machine is a circular filling machine that rotates at an angular velocity while said bottles are being filled, wherein said angular velocity undergoes a variation as said circular filling machine slows down, said variation being stored as an angular velocity profile, wherein said beverage-filling system further comprises beverage-inflow unit that comprises a delivery pump and a regulating valve, wherein each filling element comprises a filling-element flow meter, wherein said controller comprises a beverage-regulating module that comprises an adder that is configured to combine signals from said filling-element flow meters to form a flow signal, wherein said beverage-regulating module is configured to control said filling machine by deriving a current-volume flow signal either by summing signals from all flow meters to define an aggregate quantity of beverage being filled into said bottles or by carrying out a calculation that relies on a measured speed of said circular filling machine and on volumes of said bottles that are to be filled, to use said current-volume flow signal to derive a regulating signal for regulating an inflow of beverage into said ring bowl, and based at least in part on said regulating signal, to regulate inflow of beverage into said ring bowl to maintain a target level of beverage in said ring bowl, to measure a current angular velocity of said circular filling machine, based on said measured current angular velocity and said stored angular velocity profile, to anticipate flow of beverage out of said ring, and to regulate said product inflow based at least in part on said anticipated flow of beverage out of said ring bowl.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said beverage-filling system comprises a filling-level sensor in said ring bowl, wherein said beverage-regulating module regulates beverage inflow into said ring bowl at least in part based on a signal from said filling-level sensor, said signal being indicative of a filling level in said ring bowl.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said filling-element flow meter comprises a magnetically-inductive flow meter.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a beverage-inflow flow meter that is arranged to measure beverage inflow through said beverage-inflow unit to said ring bowl, wherein said beverage-inflow flow meter provides an inflow-volume flow signal to said beverage-regulating module for use by said beverage-regulating module in generating said regulating signal.

16. A method comprising controlling a beverage-filling system that comprises a filling machine that fills bottles with a beverage, wherein said filling machine comprises a ring bowl and a plurality of filling elements, each of which feeds a corresponding one of said bottles, wherein each filling element comprises a valve and a flow meter, wherein each valve controls flow of said beverage into a bottle, wherein said ring bowl feeds beverage to each filling element in said plurality of filling elements, wherein controlling said filling machine comprises deriving a flow signal, said flow signal being a current-volume flow signal, using said flow signal to derive a regulating signal for regulating an inflow of beverage into said ring bowl, and based at least in part on said regulating signal, regulating inflow of beverage into said ring bowl to maintain a target level of beverage in said ring bowl, wherein deriving said flow signal comprises one of deriving said flow signal based at least in part on a sum of signals from all flow meters, said sum defining an aggregate quantity of beverage being filled into said plurality of bottles and deriving said flow signal based on a calculation that relies on a measured speed of said filling machine, the number of filling elements in said filling machine, and the volumes of said bottles to be filled, wherein said filling machine is a circular filling machine that rotates at an angular velocity, while said bottles are being filled, said angular velocity being defined by a curve that indicates variation of said angular velocity as said circular filling machine slows down, wherein said method comprises storing said curve, measuring a current angular velocity of said circular filling machine, based on said measured current angular velocity and said stored curve, anticipating flow of beverage out of said ring bowl, and regulating said product inflow based at least in part on said anticipated flow of beverage out of said ring bowl.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a curve that is indicative of an angular-velocity profile that is followed by said filling machine as said filling machine runs up to an operating speed and calculating an anticipated volume flow based at least in part on said curve, a target angular velocity, the number of filling elements in said filling machine, and amount of beverage to be filled into each bottle in said plurality of bottles, and, while said filling machine is being run up to said operating speed, regulating said product inflow at least in part based on said anticipated volume flow.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a curve that is indicative of an expected velocity profile that occurs when said filling machine transitions between an operating state and a stationary state, during a transition between said stationary state and said operating state, comparing an actual revolution speed of said filling machine with a corresponding revolution speed from said stored curve, and, based at least in part on said comparison, regulating product inflow.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a filling machine;

(2) FIG. 2 shows a top view of the filling machine shown in FIG. 1; and

(3) FIG. 3 shows details of a filling element from the filling machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) FIGS. 1 and 3 show a beverage-filling system for filling containers 18, such as bottles, with a beverage. The beverage-filling system 10 includes a circular filling machine 12 that rotates about an axis thereof at some rotational velocity.

(5) The filling machine 12 includes filling elements 16. These filling elements 16 define a second circle that is concentric with and larger than the first circle. In a typical filling machine 12, there may on the order of a hundred or so such filling elements 16. Each filling element 16 comprises a filling valve 32 that opens and closes to control delivery of beverage into a container 18. Each filling element 16 also comprises a filling-element flow meter 34 that measures how much beverage has flowed through the filling valve 32.

(6) The filling machine 12 defines a first circle having a ring bowl 14 around a circumference thereof. The ring bowl 14 contains a reservoir of beverage. The ring bowl 14 feeds all of the filling elements 16 the product that they need for filling containers 18.

(7) Having the ring bowl 14 be within the first circle is advantageous because centrifugal force developed during rotation of the filling machine 12 assists in the flow of beverage from the ring bowl 14 towards the filling elements 16. However, it is also possible to have at least a portion of the ring bowl 14 lie beyond the second circle. In some embodiments, the ring bowl 14 is beyond the second circle.

(8) A beverage-inflow line 21 connects the ring bowl 14 to a inflow unit 20. The inflow unit 20 includes a regulating valve 22 and a delivery pump 24. The beverage-inflow line 21 ultimately connects to a large buffer tank of a mixer. The ring bowl 14 draws beverage from this buffer tank as needed.

(9) A controller 26 that controls the beverage-filling system 10 features a memory 28 for storing the filling machine's filling curves. These filling curves are time-revolution-speed curves that provide information on filling characteristics associated with different rotational velocities at which the filling machine 12 rotates.

(10) The memory 28 also stores other parameters. Among these other parameters are the number of the filling elements on the filling machine 12, the volume of the containers 18 to be filled, and target values or target-value ranges.

(11) beverage-regulating module 30 that regulates the flow of beverage through the inflow unit 20 and thus regulates the delivery of beverage to the ring bowl 14. The controller 26 also connects to the filling valve 32 and to the filling-element flow meter 34.

(12) The beverage-filling system 10 further comprises a beverage-level sensor 36 that connects to the controller 26. As a result, the controller 26 constantly receives a signal indicative of the level of the beverage that remains in the ring bowl 14. Also arranged in the beverage-inflow line 21 is a main flow-meter 38 that detects the volume rate of flow of beverage being conveyed to the ring bowl 14 at any time.

(13) The filling machine 12 also includes a container inlet 40 through which containers are conveyed to the filling machine 12 and a container outlet 42 through which containers leave the filling machine 12. In some embodiments, the container inlet 40 and the container outlet 42 are transfer rotors.

(14) In a first method of using the beverage filling-system 10, the controller 26 detects the filling machine's rotation velocity and uses it, together with the number of filling elements 16 and the filling volume of the container 18, to determine a current-volume-flow signal. The current-volume-flow signal then provides a basis for controlling either the regulating valve 22 or the delivery pump 24 or both, thus regulating the flow of beverage through inflow unit 20. This sets the quantity of beverage being delivered to the ring bowl 14 to match the quantity of product that is being filled into containers. As a result, the beverage level in the ring bowl 14 remains constant.

(15) In a second method of using the beverage filling-system 10, the beverage-regulating module 30 of the controller 26 sums the individual volumes provided by the signals from flow meters 34 of all the filling elements 16 of the filling machine 12. This results in a current-volume-flow signal. The regulating valve 22 and the delivery pump 24 are then actuated in such a way that the beverage quantity being supplied to the ring bowl 14 is consistent with the sum of the values provided by the filling-element flow meters 34 of all the filling elements 16 as indicated by the current-volume-flow signal. This permits the inflow unit 20 to be regulated in real time, almost without any delay, to meet the volume-flow requirement that arises as the filling elements 16 fill containers.

(16) It is possible to switch at will between the first and second methods of operation. For example, the first method may be particularly useful when the filling machine 12 is coming up to speed after having stopped operation or when the filling machine 12 is slowing down to a stop. The second alternative, which relies on the filling element's flow meters 34, is useful during steady-state operation of the beverage-filling system 10.

(17) It is also possible to regulate beverage inflow in such a way that, instead of maintaining the beverage in the ring bowl 14 at some constant level, the beverage level is instead moved to a new level that will become the new constant level.

(18) The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiment described heretofore, but can be varied at will within the scope of protection.