Adjustable suck-back device for sanitary pumps

A filling unit for filling containers with a predetermined amount of a product, comprising pump means including cylinder means, piston means slidable within said cylinder means and defining a variable pump space whose volume depends on the position of the piston means during its suction and discharge stroke, inlet valve means adapted to be connected with a supply of the product to be dispensed, outlet valve means adapted to be connected at its discharge side with a discharge nozzle, means providing a communication between said inlet and outlet valve means and said pump space, said outlet valve means including a movable valve member operable to close off the discharge side from said communication during the suction stroke of said piston means, and further means providing a suck-back effect between the discharge side of said outlet valve means and said communication by preventing complete closure of the valve member of said outlet valve means during the suction stroke of the piston means, said further means including a threaded adjusting member operable to engage said valve member in such a way that the complete closure is prevented, characterized in that the further means forms a sanitary suck-back device, whose threaded member is in threaded engagement only with a support member external of said outlet valve means and extends with an unthreaded portion thereof into an unthreaded bore of the outlet valve means to facilitate cleaning of the various parts thereof, the threaded adjusting member adjustably projecting into the path of the valve member as the latter seeks to engage its valve seat, the valve member being a valve ball operable to engage with its valve seat in said outlet valve means, the unthreaded bore in said outlet valve means extending through the outlet valve housing approximately in the radial direction of said valve ball, said unthreaded portion of the adjusting member being provided with an annular groove receiving a sealing ring within an area thereof normally located in the unthreaded bore of the outlet valve means, when the suck-back means is in its operable position, said support member being removably mounted on and non-threadably connected with said outlet valve means, the outlet valve means including a stepped portion forming a shoulder, and the support member which is approximately L-shaped in side view and of a width greater than the width dimensions of the shoulder, including a first longer leg provided with an opening substantially complementary to the configuration of said shoulder and a second shorter leg portion provided with a threaded bore to threadably receive the threaded portion of the adjusting member, the location of the threaded bore being such that it is substantially coaxial with the unthreaded bore in the outlet valve means when said first leg portion engages said shoulder.

A filling unit for filling containers with a predetermined amount of a product, comprising pump means including cylinder means, piston means slidable within said cylinder means and defining a variable pump space whose volume depends on the position of the piston means during its suction and discharge stroke, inlet valve means adapted to be connected with a supply of the product to be dispensed, outlet valve means adapted to be connected at its discharge side with a discharge nozzle, means providing a communication between said inlet and outlet valve means and said pump space, said outlet valve means including a movable valve member operable to close off the discharge side from said communication during the suction stroke of said piston means, and further means providing a suck-back effect between the discharge side of said outlet valve means and said communication by preventing a complete closure of the valve member of said outlet valve means during the suction stroke of the piston means, said further means including a threaded adjusting member operable to engage said valve member in such a way that complete closure is prevented, characterized in that the further means forms a sanitary suck-back device, whose threaded member is in threaded engagement only with a support member external of said outlet valve means and extends with an unthreaded portion thereof into an unthreaded bore of the outlet valve means to facilitate cleaning of the various parts thereof, said support member being removably mounted on and nonthreadably connected with said outlet valve means, the outlet valve means including a stepped portion forming a shoulder, and the support member which is approximately L-shaped in side view and of a width greater than the width dimension of the shoulder, including a first longer leg portion provided with an opening substantially complementary to the configuration of said shoulder and a second shorter leg portion provided with a threaded bore to threadably receive the threaded portion of the adjusting member, the location of the threaded bore being such that it is substantially coaxial with the unthreaded bore in the outlet valve means when said first leg portion engages said shoulder.