Methods and apparatus for container filling
AssigneeKraft, Inc.
InventorsPeter D. Whitney, Donald J. Phoenix
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for accurately packaging viscous food products within a predetermined weight range.
Claims16
A method for rapidly and accurately filling product containers with a predetermined weight of a viscous, fluid food product comprising the steps of
- providing a product supply stream of a viscous food product at a substantially constant product flow rate,
- sequentially advancing a plurality of product containers from a prefilling zone to a final filling and weighing zone,
- substantially continuously weighing each of said plurality of containers upon being positioned at the final filling and weighing zone,
- introducing substantially all of the product stream into each container positioned at the final filling and weighing station until the container reaches a coarse filling cycle activation weight,
- introducing a portion of said product stream into each container initially having at least said coarse filling cycle activation weight positioned at the final filling and weighing station at a rate which is substantially less than said substantially constant product flow rate at which the viscous food product is provided, while introducing at least a portion of the product stream into each one of said plurality of containers upon being positioned in the prefilling zone to partially fill the container at said prefilling zone,
- substantially continuously comparing the weight of each of said plurality of containers positioned at said final filling and weighing station, while introducing a portion of said product stream, to a predetermined fine filling cycle activation weight and terminating the introduction of food product into the product container positioned at the fine filling and weighing zone when the weight of the container reaches the predetermined fine filling cycle activation weight,
- weighing the container and comparing the weighed container weight to a predetermined weight range, reducing the fine filling cycle activation weight if the container weight exceeds said predetermined weight range and increasing said fine filling cycle activation weight if the container weight exceeds said predetermined weight range.
A method for accurately filling containers with a viscous food product comprising the steps of
- periodically substantially simultaneously advancing a sequential plurality of product containers from a storage zone to a prefilling zone, and from the prefilling zone to an intermediate zone, partially filling each product container at the prefilling zone with a viscous food product,
- alternately with said periodic simultaneous advancement of product containers through said storage and prefilling zones, substantially simultaneously advancing the sequential plurality of product containers from the intermediate zone to a final filling and weighing zone, and from the final filling and weighing zone to a filled container discharge zone, and filling each of said containers to a predetermined weight level at said final filling and weighing zone.
Apparatus for rapidly and accurately filling product containers within a predetermined weight of a viscous, fluid food product comprising
- pumping means for providing a continuous stream of viscous food product to be packaged,
- prefilling station means for receiving a product container to be filled with a predetermined weight of the viscous food product,
- final filling station means for receiving a product container which has been partially filled at the prefilling station means,
- weighing controller means for substantially continuously weighing a product container received at the final container filling station means and for comparing the measured weight of the container with a predetermined cycle activation weight, and for providing a signal indicative of the measured weight of the product container at the final product filling station means corresponding to the predetermined cycle activation weight cycle,
- fine filling cycle activation weight adjustment means for comparing the measured weight of the product container with a desired finished product weight range, and for decreasing the fine filling cycle activation weight if the measured filled product container is above the desired final product weight range, and increasing the fine filling cycle activation weight if the measured filled product container weight is below the desired food product weight range,
- prefill discharge means for introducing viscous food product into a product container received at the prefilling station means,
- compound filling means for introducing viscous food product selectively at a first coarse filling flow rate and at a second fine filling flow rate which is less than the coarse filling flow rate into a product container received at the final filling station means,
- valve means for directing the continuous stream of viscous food product from the pumping means to at least one of the prefilling discharge nozzle means or the compound filling discharge means, and valve means for controlling the flow through the coarse discharge nozzle means and the fine filling discharge nozzle in response to the weighing controller means, and
- container transport means for sequentially advancing a plurality of containers to the prefilling station means, and from the prefilling station to the final filling station means.
Apparatus for filling containers comprising a storage station means for storing empty containers, and prefilling station means for partially filling a container received from said storage station means, intermediate station means for temporarily storing a partially filled container received from said prefilling station means, final filling station means for filling a partially filled container received from said intermediate station means to a predetermined weight level, first dual container ram means for simultaneously advancing a sequential plurality of containers from said storage station means to said prefilling station means, and from said prefilling station means to said intermediate station means, second dual container ram means for, alternately with said first dual container ram means, substantially simultaneously advancing a sequential plurality of containers from said intermediate station means to said final filling means, and from the final filling means to discharge the container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.