Filling unit for filling containers with pourable products

A filling unit for filling a container with a pourable product, the filling unit comprising:

• a tubular body defining an axial passage for fluids and delimiting at one end a delivery mouth, through which the pourable product or at least one cleaning liquid flow in use;
• a first fluidic line including the entire passage of the tubular body and fed in use with the at least one cleaning liquid;
• a second fluidic line, which includes at least a portion of the passage of the tubular body terminating with the delivery mouth, and which is fed in use with the pourable product or with the at least one cleaning liquid;
• a support device for supporting the container in a position below the delivery mouth;
• a shutter housed within the passage and selectively moved to open or to close, in a fluid-tight manner, the delivery mouth;
• and
• an actuator for moving the shutter:
• wherein the actuator comprises an electromagnetic actuator having:
• a stator fitted externally to the tubular body and provided with electrically-powered coils;
• and
• a movable element carrying, at one end, the shutter, provided with at least one permanent magnet and coaxially housed inside the passage of the tubular body with a limited radial space to allow a fluid flow through the passage, the movable element being displaced by the stator into a first position, in which the movable element maintains said the shutter in a closing configuration on the delivery mouth, and into a second position, in which the movable element allows the pourable product or the cleaning liquid to flow through the delivery mouth,
• wherein the filling unit further comprises a non-powered, ring-shaped, magnetic attraction element fitted to the tubular body in an axially-spaced relationship with the stator and exerting an attraction force on the movable element to maintain the movable element in a third position, distinct from the first position and the second position and corresponding to a position of the shutter being detached from the delivery mouth.