Device and Method for Filling a Container without Using Measuring Means

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for filling a fluid into a container without using measuring means and to a filling apparatus therefor which comprises an attachment having a predetermined volume V.sub.A, said attachment comprising a valve attachment which has a gas valve and a liquid valve with a valve seat in a housing. Said valve seat surrounds a displacement element that can be moved along the longitudinal axis relative to the housing, and forms an annular gap. According to said method, the attachment is tightly placed onto a container (1) while the displacement element is inserted into the container (1). When the liquid valve (5) is opened, the filling fluid flows into the nominal volume V.sub.N of the container (1), and said nominal volume is flooded with the filling fluid; the liquid valve is then closed. The displacement element is withdrawn from the container (1) and the flooded remaining volumes top up the contents in the container (1), the volumina V.sub.VA and V.sub.FV equaling the volume V.sub.Rohr of a portion of the displacement element in the flooded portion so that identical containers (1) are filled with identical fill levels.

Claims

1. A method for filling a container (1) without any measuring devices, using a filling apparatus (10) comprising an attachment having a predetermined volume, wherein the attachment has a valve attachment (2) which has a gas valve (6) and a fluid valve (5) with a valve seat (7, 8) in a housing (21, 22, 23, 24), wherein the valve seat (7, 8) surrounds a displacement element that is movable along a longitudinal axis in relation to the housing while forming an annular gap (7′, 8′), comprising the steps of: a) tightly placing the attachment with its bottom side onto a container (1) while inserting the displacement element into the container (1), b) opening the fluid valve (5) and letting filling fluid flow into a nominal volume V.sub.nom of the container, which is formed by the volume V.sub.A of the attachment and a volume V.sub.C of the container, until the nominal volume V.sub.nom is flooded with filling fluid, then closing the fluid valve (5), and c) pulling the displacement element out of the container (1) and letting the volume V.sub.A flow into the container (1), wherein the volume V.sub.A is equal to the volume V.sub.balloon of a section of the displacement element in the flooded section, with the result that the same containers (1) are filled up to the same filling levels.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the attachment furthermore comprises a volume compensator (2′) which is in fluid connection with the valve attachment (2), wherein the attachment is tightly placed with the bottom side of the volume compensator onto the container (1) in step a).

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: a′) after inserting the displacement element, allowing a balloon-type body (4) which is put over [[the]] a pipe (3) to expand until the container (1) to be filled is lined, and expanding the balloon-type body (4) is achieved by supplying an expansion medium or by applying a vacuum to the container (1).

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of: b′) after opening the fluid valve (5), continuing to allow the filling fluid to flow in and the balloon-type body (4) to collapse.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the expanding balloon-type body (4) has at least one longitudinal web along its perimeter, said web extending in the longitudinal direction of the balloon-type body (4) so that, in the expanded state of the balloon-type body (4), at least one fluid path is formed between the surface of the balloon-type body (4) and an internal surface of the attachment in step a).

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: b″) closing the fluid valve (5) when a predetermined pressure is reached in the filling fluid circuit.

7. A filling apparatus (10) for applying the method according to claim 1, comprising an attachment having a predetermined volume V.sub.A, wherein said attachment can be tightly placed onto the container (1) and has a valve attachment (2), which has a housing (21, 22, 23, 24) as well as a gas valve (6) and a fluid valve (5) each of which have a valve seat (7, 8) and wherein the valve seats (7, 8) surround a displacement element while forming an annular gap (7′, 8′), said displacement element being movable along a longitudinal axis in relation to the housing (21, 22, 23, 24), wherein the displacement element is inserted into the container when the attachment is placed onto the container; and wherein a fluid supply line is connected to the fluid valve (5), characterised in that the filling apparatus (10) in the fluid supply line does not have any volume measuring device and does not have any filling level measuring device.

8. The filling apparatus (10) according to claim 7, characterised in that the attachment has a volume compensator (2′) which has a predetermined volume VVC, is in fluid connection with the valve attachment (2) and can be placed onto the container (1) in a fluid-tight manner.

9. The filling apparatus (10) according to claim 7, characterised in that the displacement element is a pipe (3) with a balloon-type body (4) wherein the balloon-type body (4) at least partially encloses the pipe (3), wherein the pipe (3) is arranged at a retaining section (17) of the valve attachment (2) and positions itself concentrically through a through-hole (19) of the retaining section (17) and extends further through the valve seats (7, 8) and their annular closing parts and, in use, is designed to protrude to near a bottom (14) of a given container (1) and wherein the balloon-type body (4) is drawn over the free end of the pipe (3) with its closed end and extends through the valve attachment (2) all the way into the retaining section (17) and is located therein.

10. The filling apparatus (10) according to claim 7, characterised in that the balloon-type body (4) is formed by a tube that is made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, preferably of a TPE extrudate, and is closed at one of its ends, wherein the closure of the tube is preferably formed by an end piece that is welded to the tube material and inserted into the tube end, more preferably by a cylindrical end piece, most preferably by a cylindrical PE end piece, and wherein the tube has at least one longitudinal web and/or at least one longitudinal groove, preferably two or more longitudinal webs or grooves along its length, or is a body that is made of a non-elastomer material and is not open at its lower end, said body having at least one longitudinal web and/or at least one longitudinal groove, preferably two or more longitudinal webs or grooves along its length, and/or has a tube-like section the inside diameter and length of which correspond to an outside diameter of a displacement element determined for use in the filling apparatus, with the result that the tube-like section can be drawn onto the displacement element without any play, and has an unfoldable section having a shape which is designed to lie against an internal wall of the container (1) in an unfolded state.

11. The filling apparatus (10) according to claim 7, characterised in that the gas valve (6) and a fluid valve (5) comprise an annular closing part in addition to the valve seat (7, 8), wherein the valve seat (7, 8) and the closing part are movable in relation to each other and are arranged coaxially to each other.

12. The method according to claim 4, wherein the balloon-type body (4) is collapsed by letting the expansion medium escape from the balloon-type body (4).

13. The method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one fluid path is a gas flow path extending along the balloon-type body (4).

Description

[0046] Further embodiments as well as some of the advantages associated with these and other embodiments are revealed and more easily understandable by means of the following detailed description with reference being made to the accompanying figures. The figures are only a schematic representation of embodiments of the invention.

[0047] In the figures;

[0048] FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a filling apparatus according to the invention, and

[0049] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an alternative filling apparatus having a volume compensator.

[0050] In the illustrated instance, the filling apparatus 10 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 is used for filling a bottle 1 but can, generally, also be used for any other container.

[0051] Therein, the filling apparatus 10 has an attachment which comprises a valve attachment 2. In the illustrated instance, a pipe 3 serving as a displacement element is passed through the valve attachment 2, with a balloon 4 being put over said pipe 3. Therein, the balloon 4 is designed such that, when it is in an expanded state, a gap remains between the surface of the balloon 4 and an internal wall of the valve attachment 2. In FIG. 1, the balloon 4 is shown in its non-expanded state.

[0052] Therein, the pipe 3 protrudes from the valve attachment 2 at its bottom side. The valve attachment 2 is designed such that it sits tightly on the bottle 1 with its bottom side (see FIG. 1).

[0053] FIG. 2 shows that a volume compensator 2′ is placed onto the bottle 1 between the bottle 1 and the valve attachment 2. This is above all used to allow compensating different volumes in different container types. FIGS. 1 and 2 each show a method step in which the container 1 has just been connected to the valve attachment 2 in a fluid-tight manner and the balloon 4 is shortly before being expanded.

[0054] The balloon 4 is connected to the pipe 3 in an upper end region thereof in a fluid-tight manner. There, a ball 16 is pushed onto the pipe 3 wherein the balloon 4 is drawn over this ball 16. The ball 16 sits in an opening 18 of a retaining section 17, wherein the balloon 4 is clamped in between the ball 16 and the upper edge of this opening 18. A through-hole 19 through which the expansion medium flows through the pipe 3 and into the balloon 4 extends through the ball 16.

[0055] The balloon-type body 4 can be a tube formed from a thermoplastic elastomer material, said tube being closed at its lower end, i.e., the end that is provided for positioning in the container 1 to be filled or emptied. It thus forms some kind of expanding body which can be inflated by means of an expansion medium, for example, air. In its non-expanded form, the tube has an inside diameter which corresponds to the outside diameter of the pipe 3 to displace a volume that is as small as possible. With regard to wall thickness and elasticity, the material composition is selected such that the tube that is expanded by being inflated takes the form of a balloon which fills the internal volume of the container 1 to be filled or, rather, the interior region of the upstream components, more particularly of the volume compensator 2′ and the valve attachment 2.

[0056] Once the balloon 4 is in its expanded state, it lines not only the container 1 but also the interior region of the valve attachment 2, i.e., it comes to lie against a through-hole 11 and the valve seats 7, 8 from inside. Thereby, the valve attachment 2 can also be completely cleared from any ambient air prior to filling or, in case of refilling, from any fluid that has already been filled in, with the result that, here as well, the filling fluid is prevented from coming into contact with ambient air.

[0057] The valve attachment 2 has a fluid valve 5 and a gas valve 6 each having an annular valve seat 7, 8 and annular closing parts corresponding thereto. The valve seat 7 is designed stationary with regard to a container 1 to be filled, wherein the valve seat 8 is designed movable with regard to a longitudinal axis of the valve. The two closing parts are aligned with each other and surround the pipe 3, each forming an annular gap 7′, 8′. The closing parts of the two valves 5, 6 are arranged in a common carrier 12 that is movable along the longitudinal axis of the valve. The valve attachment 2 can consist of several parts and, to achieve this, can be divided into different units. Therein, the units are surrounded by the housing parts 21, 22, 23, 24. Therein, the different units can be moved in relation to each other in the housing parts 21, 22, 23, 24 along the longitudinal axis of the valve to open individual ones or both of the valves 5, 6. Furthermore, a liquid supply line 15 (only schematically shown in the figures) is connected to the valve attachment 2.

[0058] A stopper 13 which serves to protect the sensitive bottom 14 of the container 1 and to prevent the free end of the pipe 3 from bouncing against this bottom 14 is provided at the free end of the pipe 3 which is, however, still surrounded by the balloon-type body 4. The stopper 13 is made of a flexible material, for example, rubber.

[0059] The volume compensator 2′ shown in FIG. 2 is a body which has an essentially cylindrical design and a predefined volume V.sub.VC in its interior region. This volume serves to receive part of a defined filling volume which displaces the pipe 3 required for filling, including the balloon-type body 4, from the container 1 that is actually to be filled. Accordingly, this fluid volume received in the volume compensator 2′ can flow on after the pipe 3 has been pulled out.

[0060] Due to the different components, volumes of different sizes are now being formed.

[0061] The container 1 encloses a volume V.sub.C. The inside hole 11 of the valve attachment 2 maps a volume V.sub.VA. Furthermore, a volume V.sub.VF is formed by the fluid valve 5 and, if use is made of a volume compensator 2′ such as it is shown in FIG. 2, this volume compensator 2′ forms a volume V.sub.VC. All of these volumes have to be summed up to obtain a total volume.

[0062] The volume V.sub.balloon that is formed by the pipe 3 including the balloon-type body 4 must be subtracted from the sum total of all other volumes, because this volume displaces fluid inside all components including the container. This, results in a nominal volume V.sub.nom=V.sub.C+V.sub.VA+V.sub.VC+V.sub.FV−V.sub.balloon the volume size of which corresponds to that of the fluid actually to be filled in. Therein, the sum total of the volumes of the various attachment components corresponds to the total volume V.sub.balloon inside the filling apparatus that is displaced through the pipe 3. The nominal volume \t.sub.rim; is achieved by the nominal level I.sub.nom that has to be reached, as is shown by way of example in FIG. 1. The volume in the container 1 that is displaced by the balloon-type body 4 is determined by the length by h.sub.balloon by which the pipe 3 with the balloon-type body 4 protrudes into the container 1. Therein, the displacement volume of the components protruding into the container 1 corresponds to the residual volumes in the attachment minus the displacement element. As a result, there is always the same filling level in each container 1 with (minimally) varying filling volume.

[0063] The aforementioned method is therefore executed as follows, wherein the sequence is the same for each embodiment, whether with or without volume compensator 2′:

[0064] A lower side of the attachment is placed onto the respective container 1 in a fluid-tight manner. Thereafter, the displacement element, i.e., the pipe 3 with the balloon-type body 4, is inserted, wherein it is inserted as far as necessary to ensure that the stopper 13 is prevented from touching or hitting a bottom of the container 1. Furthermore, the gas valve 6 is opened so that the expansion medium can enter into and expand the balloon-type body 4 whereby it removes a major part of the ambient air from the container 1. Therein, the balloon-type body 4 lies against the internal wall of the container 1 such that a gap providing a fluid or air path remains where there are webs along the length of said body.

[0065] Once the balloon-type body fills the internal volume that is filled by the individual cavities of the components, the fluid valve 5 is opened. Since there is the gap, fluid can enter into the same. In the meantime, the expansion medium is released from the balloon-type body 4 so that it collapses and lies against the pipe 3. The remaining volumes developing in the attachment, more particularly in the valve attachment 2 and the volume compensator 2′ if any is used, are filled with fluid, with the result that the container 1 is filled except for the section of the pipe 3 along with the balloon-type body 4 that protrudes into the fluid. Therein, the volume the pipe 3 with the balloon-type body 4 being in its non-expanded state takes up inside the container 1 exactly corresponds to the volume that is formed by the aforementioned residual volumes in the attachments, the fluid valve 5, etc.

[0066] Once these volumes are flooded, the fluid valve 5 is closed and the pipe 3 is pulled out. Therein. the aforementioned fluid-filled volumes “slide on” and flow into the container 1. As a result, precisely the aforementioned section is now also being filled with fluid and a steady nominal volume V.sub.nom and therefore a steady nominal level I.sub.nom correlating with it can be achieved. The aforementioned statement, however, only relates to one and the same container, i.e., in the sense that the apparatus according to the invention allows achieving well repeatable filling accuracies. But especially according to the invention, an automatic adjustment without any measuring devices of different containers can be achieved, to that these containers are filled with different volumes in order to always obtain the same filling level.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0067] 1 Container

[0068] 2 Valve attachment

[0069] 2′ Volume compensator

[0070] 3 Pipe

[0071] 4 Balloon-type body; balloon

[0072] 5 Fluid valve

[0073] 6 Gas valve

[0074] 7 Valve seat

[0075] 7′ Annular gap

[0076] 8 Valve seat

[0077] 8′ Annular gap

[0078] 10 Filling apparatus

[0079] 11 Through-hole

[0080] 12 Carrier

[0081] 13 Stopper

[0082] 14 Bottom

[0083] 15 Fluid supply line

[0084] 16 Ball

[0085] 17 Retaining section

[0086] 18 Opening

[0087] 19 Through-hole

[0088] 21 First housing part

[0089] 22 Second housing part

[0090] 23 Third housing part

[0091] 24 Fourth housing part

[0092] V.sub.nom Nominal volume

[0093] V.sub.C Container volume

[0094] V.sub.VA Valve attachment volume

[0095] V.sub.FV Fluid valve volume

[0096] V.sub.VC Volume compensator volume

[0097] V.sub.balloon Volume in pipe including balloon-type body

[0098] h.sub.balloon Balloon height

[0099] I.sub.nom Nominal filling level