Aseptic filling apparatus
AssigneeBowater Packaging Limited
InventorsFriedrich R. Kohlbach, John L. Rawson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for aseptically filling containers with product, such as the bags (B) of bag-in-box containers, wherein the aseptic filling chamber (9 or 40) with a filling head or nozzle (5 or 43) therein is provided with fluid inlet and outlet lines (2,4,6,8,19,21,39 or 57,59,63) to create desired positive or negative atmospheric conditions within the chamber, so that a positive pressure can be maintained within the chamber when change over, at an aperture in the chamber, of a bag to be filled occurs, and so that after filling, a negative pressure (through line 15 or 63) can be generated to evacuate the chamber and hence remove any headspace gas from the top of the filled container prior to it being capped.
Claims10
Apparatus for aseptically filling containers with product, including a filling chamber with which the upper end of a container to be filled is connected for filling, a filling head within the chamber to place the product within the container under aseptic conditions, and means remote from the filling head to create a desired gaseous condition within the chamber and thus at the top of the filled container, wherein said means remote from the filling head includes means to create a negative pressure within the chamber to evacuate any gas from the top of the container while the container is still connected to the chamber, wherein the filling head includes a ball valve with a passageway therein extending diametrically through the valve and having a cross-section corresponding to that of a supply tube leading to the nozzle, the ball valve being movable through 90.degree. between the open and closed positions, and there being wiping seals between the ball valve and its housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.