Filling element and filling machine for filling bottles or similar containers

An apparatus comprising a filling element for filling a plurality of bottles with liquid, said filling element comprising

• a housing that comprises a recess forming a channel through which said liquid flows,
• a valve arranged in said channel, said valve comprising a seat and a body,
• an insert that remains stationary during operation of said filling element, said insert being disposed upstream of said seat and comprising a ring from which project blades that form both said gas barrier and said swirl body, said blades projecting in a direction having a radially outward component and away from said ring and axially downward beyond an underside of said ring, said blades being oriented to impart a swirl to said liquid as said liquid flow's past said blades, and wherein said blades are arranged to arrest residual flow of liquid when said bottle has been filled to a desired level, and
• an annular opening through which liquid discharges in a direction toward an inner wall of said bottle during filling thereof,
• wherein each of said blades comprises a bottom edge below the underside of the ring, the bottom edge being transverse to both a radial axis and a longitudinal axis of the housing, and
• wherein said recess includes a lower conically narrowing section, wherein said bottom edge of each of said blades is disposed in said lower conically narrowing section.