Device for filling a container which is under pressure

Apparatus for charging solids into a pressurized container comprising a tubular lock chamber on the container, said lock chamber having an inlet for receiving solids to be supplied to the container and an outlet for supplying the solids to the container, valve means at the outlet of said lock chamber, feed means for supplying solids to said inlet of the lock chamber, a housing mounted adjacent said lock chamber for movement towards and away therefrom, a displacer member slidably mounted in said housing in axial alignment with said inlet of the lock chamber, first seal means in said housing sealingly engaging said displacer member, said lock chamber and said housing having opposed respective surfaces which contact one another when the housing has been moved to an operative position in which the displacer member is extendable to force solids in said lock chamber into said container with said valve means open, second seal means on one of said opposed surfaces for sealing said surfaces, said displacer member having a retracted position within said housing when extracted from said lock chamber, said first seal means being axially located along said displacer means at a distance from the surface of the housing which contacts the opposed surface of the lock chamber, said distance exceeding the stroke of the displacer member in its travel between its extended and retracted positions whereby the portion of the displacer member which penetrates into the lock chamber will not come into contact with the first seal means.