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US 4,938,261 AGranted
Apparatus for filling cans with a liquid
AssigneeH & K Inc.
InventorsUlrich H. Petri, Friedrich Rademacher, Siegmar Sindermann
Life of this patent
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AssigneeH & K Inc.
InventorsUlrich H. Petri, Friedrich Rademacher, Siegmar Sindermann
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for filling cans with a liquid such as beer or soft drinks. The filling machine includes a turntable having a surface to support a plurality of open top cans and a reservoir containing a liquid is spaced above the supporting surface. A plurality of filling heads are mounted on the reservoir and serve to dispense the liquid into the individual cans. Each filling head includes a spring loaded cylindrical tulip adapted to seal against the upper edge of the can and a vent tube and fill tube are disposed concentrically within the tulip. The lower end of the vent tube communicates with the can while the upper end is sealed against the surface of the reservoir and when the sealing engagement is released the vent tube communicates with the headspace of the reservoir. The lower end of the fill tube carries a valve that controls flow of liquid from the reservoir into the can. After the tulip seals against the can, pure carbon dioxide is introduced into the can from a separate reservoir and air is vented from the can to the atmosphere. A differential in force acting against opposite ends of the vent tube will act to lower the vent tube into the can and the valve is opened to admit liquid to the can with the gas from the can being discharged through the vent tube to the reservoir headspace. When the liquid rises in the can to the level of the vent tube, the liquid will move partially up within the vent tube. The vent tube is elevated to compress the gas therein and force the liquid out of the vent tube. The gas is then released from the head space of the can to the atmosphere.
An apparatus for filling an open top container with a liquid, comprising a supporting surface to support a container, annular sealing means to seal against the upper edge of the container, a reservoir to contain a liquid and having a headspace above the liquid, a tubular member extending downwardly from said reservoir and having a valve seat, first valve means mounted within the tubular member for longitudinal movement and disposed to engage said valve seat, a vent tube disposed within said tubular member and having a lower end communicating with said container and having an upper end selectively disposed in communication with said headspace, second valve means associated with the upper end of said vent tube and having an open position where the interior of said vent tube communicates with said headspace and having a closed position, means for introducing a pressurizing gas into the container, means responsive to pressurization of said container for moving said vent tube downwardly with respect to said tubular member to position the lower end of the vent tube in the container and to open said second valve means, and operating means for moving said fist valve means to the open position to admit liquid from said reservoir to said container, gas from said can being vented through said vent tube and open second valve means to the headspace of said reservoir.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.