Filling devices for filling machines for level filling of bottles and filling machines containing such devices

Abstract

Filling devices for lever filling of bottles with liquids are provided. Such devices may include a body having a vertical inner cavity, an outer tube which is fixed at the top to a bottom wall of a main vessel intended to contain the liquid with which the bottles are to be filled, extending through the inner cavity of the body and projecting downward from the body, an inner tube which is arranged coaxially with the outer tube, extending with a lower portion thereof inside the outer tube and projecting upward from the outer tube, so as to reach with its top end a level higher than the level of the liquid contained in the main vessel. Filling machines containing such devices are also provided.

Claims

1. A filling device for filling machines for level filling of bottles comprising: a body having an inner cavity which extends vertically through said body; an outer tube configured for being fixed at the top to a bottom wall of a main vessel of a machine containing liquid with which the bottles are to be filled, the outer tube extending through the inner cavity of the body and projecting downward from the body; an inner tube being arranged coaxially with the outer tube and extending with a lower portion thereof inside the outer tube and projecting upward from the outer tube, so as to reach with its top end, in the mounted condition of the filling device on the machine, a level higher than the level of the liquid contained in the main vessel, the outer tube and the inner tube encompassing a first annular conduit which extends up to the bottom end of the outer tube and through which the liquid contained in the main vessel can flow downward to fill a bottle; a centring cone arranged coaxially with the outer tube and the inner tube configured to seal against the top end of the neck of the bottle to be filled; a first closure member arranged to be vertically movable relative to the outer tube and configured to sealingly close the first annular conduit; a second closure member arranged to be vertically movable relative to the inner tube and configured to sealingly close the inner tube; and an actuation unit for controlling the vertical movement of the first closure member and of the second closure member; wherein the second closure member is placed at the bottom end of the inner tube to open/close said tube at the bottom, and is fixed to the bottom end of a sliding rod which extends within the inner tube, coaxially therewith, and defines with the inner tube a second annular conduit, and wherein the actuation unit controls the vertical movement of the sliding rod, and of the second closure member therewith, relative to the inner tube.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first closure member is also positioned at the bottom end of the inner tube and cooperates with the bottom end of the outer tube to open/close the first annular conduit at the bottom.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the first closure member has a conical seat and wherein the second closure member is provided with a seal member which cooperates with the conical seat.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the actuation unit comprises a first linear actuator for controlling the vertical movement of the first closure member and a second linear actuator for controlling the vertical movement of the second closure member.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the first linear actuator and the second linear actuator are mounted in series with each other.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the first linear actuator and the second linear actuator are double-acting pneumatic cylinders.

7. A filling machine for level-filling of bottles comprising a main vessel for containing liquid to be bottled and a plurality of the filling devices of claim 1, wherein the inner tube of each filling device extends inside the main vessel through a respective hole provided in a bottom wall of the main vessel.

8. The filling machine of claim 7, further comprising a secondary vessel which is separate from the main vessel and is in fluid communication with the inner tube of each filling device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 is an axially sectioned view of a filling device for filling machines according to a first known embodiment;

(2) FIG. 2 is an axially sectioned view of a filling device for filling machines according to a further known embodiment;

(3) FIG. 3 shows, on an enlarged scale, the bottom portion of the known filling device of FIG. 2;

(4) FIG. 4 is an axially sectioned view of a filling device for filling machines according to an embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIG. 5 shows, on an enlarged scale, the bottom portion of the filling device of FIG. 4; and

(6) FIG. 6 is an axially sectioned view of a filling device for filling machines according to a variant of embodiment of the present invention, configured to work not only with non-gaseous and gaseous liquids, but also with viscous liquids.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) The embodiment of the filling device for filling machines according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, has a structure and operation corresponding to a great extent to those of the known filling device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For the sake of conciseness, therefore, only the features of the filling device of FIGS. 4 and 5 that are different from those of the filling device of FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described, the above description of the filling device of FIGS. 2 and 3 applying to all the remaining features.

(8) With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, in which parts and elements identical or corresponding to those of FIGS. 2 and 3 (prior art) have been assigned the same reference numerals, in the filling device 10 for filling machines according to the present invention the second closure member 66 is not arranged in the vicinity of the top end of the inner tube 26, but in the vicinity of the bottom end of the latter. To this end, the stem 78 of the piston 76 is provided with an extension formed by a rod 88, at the bottom end of which the second closure member 66 is placed. The rod 88 extends in the inner tube 26, coaxially therewith, and has an external diameter that is smaller than the internal diameter of this tube, whereby an annular conduit 90 (FIG. 5) is defined between the rod 88 and the inner tube 26. The rod 88, which is fixed to the stem 78 of the piston 76, is therefore free to slide inside the inner tube 26 and thus operate the second closure member 66, which is provided with a seal member 92 for sealing the annular conduit 90, to control opening/closing of the annular conduit 90, and hence of the inner tube 26.

(9) According to the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, in which both the first closure member 36 and the second closure member 66 are arranged in the vicinity of the bottom end of the inner tube 26, the first closure member 36 has a conical seat 94 with which the seal member 92 provided on the second closure member 66 is configured to cooperate.

(10) FIG. 6, where parts and elements identical or corresponding to those of FIGS. 4 and 5 have been given the same reference numerals, shown a variant of embodiment of the above-described filling device which is configured to work not only with non-gaseous and gaseous liquids, but also with viscous liquids.

(11) According to this variant of embodiment, the filling machine comprises, in addition to the above-described vessel 16, hereinafter referred to as primary vessel, a further vessel 96, hereinafter referred to as secondary vessel. The primary vessel 16 has the function of containing the liquid to be bottled, whereas the secondary vessel 96 has the function of collecting the recovered liquid, as will be explained better further on. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the secondary vessel 96 is made directly on the cover 64 of the primary vessel 16, but might also be completely distinct from the latter. A connecting tube 98 opens to the secondary vessel 96 and is connected to the inner tube 26, or better to the annular conduit 90, of the filling device 10. The first linear actuator (cylinder 68 and piston 70) and the second linear actuator (cylinder 74 and piston 76) of the filling device 10 are therefore suitably configured to be totally passed through by the annular conduit 90 to allow this latter to be connected to the connecting tube 98 and therefore to the secondary vessel 96.

(12) In view of the above description, the advantages already mentioned above that are offered by a filling device for filling machines according to the present invention, namely the higher precision in the filling level obtained even without the emptying step, and the possibility to carry out more efficiently the degassing step with products difficult to work with, such as for example sparkling wine, beer, etc, are apparent.

(13) Moreover, the use of a filling device according to the invention in combination with a filling machine provided with a primary vessel and a secondary vessel as described above by way of example with reference to FIG. 6 offers the following additional advantages.

(14) First of all, the gas that is present inside the bottle and is expelled from the bottle during the filling step to leave space to the liquid to be bottled is not conveyed back into the primary vessel 16, but flows through the annular conduit 90 and the connecting tube 98 into the secondary vessel 96. The liquid droplets that during the filling step are sometimes swept along the annular conduit 90 by the gas flowing out of the bottle and, in a much more evident way, the small quantity of liquid that is present inside the annular conduit 90 at the end of the filling step and is expelled during the above-described emptying step, do not return back into the primary vessel 16 but are collected in the secondary vessel 96 to be used as the user prefers. Since these droplets or small amounts of liquid expelled from the bottle are collected in a special vessel separate from the primary vessel containing the liquid to be bottled, it is possible to reduce oxidation and improve sterility of the liquid to be bottled.

(15) Secondly, by suitably managing the pressures in the primary and secondary vessels it is possible to carry out the classical isobaric filling, be it at a slight pressure or at high pressure (in other words, the two vessels are kept exactly at the same pressure and the liquid falls into the bottle by gravity), or the filling with a pressure difference. The pressure difference allows to increase the filling speed, and hence the performance of the machine, and to bottle viscous liquids as well.

(16) Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining unchanged, the embodiments and the constructional details may be modified with respect to those described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting examples, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as described and claimed herein.

(17) For example, even though the invention has been described with reference to an embodiment in which not only the second closure member, but also the first closure member, are placed in the vicinity of the bottom end of the inner tube, it is also applicable to a filling device such as the one of FIG. 1, i.e. with the first closure member placed at an intermediate position along the inner tube.