Filling fluent foodstuffs into containers

An apparatus for filling cups, the apparatus comprising:

• conveyor means for displacing the cups in a horizontal transport direction stepwise along a horizontal transport path;
• at least two dosing units spaced in the transport direction from each other above the path and each including
• a supply of a fluent material, and
• valve and pump means for ejecting doses of the material;
• and
• a lifter ring below the path, underneath the body, and displaceable between a lower position clear of the cups and an upper position raising a one of the cups into engagement with the body, the lifter ring being shaped complementary to the cup.

A method of filling cups, the method comprising the steps of:

• positioning each of the cups in a respective seat in a conveyor plate;
• conveying the plates with the cups in a horizontal transport direction stepwise along a horizontal transport path underneath a dosing unit and above a holder;
• raising the holder each time a cup arrives below the dosing unit while engaging the holder around the cup to lift the cup and press it upward against the dosing unit and force it downward into the holder;
• when a cup has been raised up against the dosing unit, ejecting a dose of a fluent material downward from the dosing unit into the raised cup;
• and
• after ejection of the dose into the cup, lowering the holder below the transport plate and thereby stripping the cup from the holder and leaving the lowered cup in the seat of the transport plate.