Flexible wall plastic bottle filling apparatus and method

Method of giving dimensional stability to a succession of flexible walled containers during processing of the containers to receive flowable material, the containers characterized by nominal manufacturing tolerances, said method including:

• a. successively sidewardly introducing the containers at a first station respectively into vertical alignment with a series of like, rigid, dimensionally sized receptacles, and lowering the containers therein while maintaining the containers surrounded on all sides of the receptacles,
• b. traveling the receptacles with the containers therein successively to a second station,
• c. introducing flowable material into each container at said second station in a manner to cause the sized receptacle to sidewardly absorb the pressure of the material contents of the surrounded container at said station, the containers being moved vertically in and relative to the bounding receptacles both prior to and subsequent to said introduction of the flowable material,
• d. traveling each container in succession to a third station,
• e. effecting closing of each container at said third station, said closing being air tight thereby to allow removal of the sized container from the receptacle in a manner such that the internal pressures previously sidewardly absorbed by the receptacle are absorbed by the walls of the removed container while the internal volume of the removed container remains the same, whereby tight control on volume and weight of said contents is achieved,
• f. traveling each closed container in succession to a fourth station, and
• g. effecting said removal of the closed container from its receptacle at said fourth station.