H & K Inc.

Ulrich H Petri

Friedrich Rademacher

Siegmar Sindermann

Hans D Deubel

Hans G Krohn

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.

Apparatus for filling cans with a liquid

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 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.

Can filling apparatus having a vent tube movable relative to a fill tube

Can filling apparatus having an improved gas venting mechanism

An apparatus for filling and closing containers, such as bottles. The apparatus includes a rotary filling machine for moving each bottle in a circular path of travel and filling the bottle with liquid. The bottles are crowned by a rotating crowner which is located adjacent the filling machine and the crowner moves each bottle in a circular path of travel and applies the crown to the filled bottle to close the bottle. An endless chain transfer conveyor having a plurality of pockets to receive the bottle serves to transfer the bottles from the filling machine to the crowner and from the crowner to a discharge conveyor. The chain is driven by a sprocket mounted on the crowner and the chain moves tangentially to the circular path of travel of the filling machine, so that the bottles are transferred from the filling machine to the pockets on the chain conveyor. After crowning, the bottles are transferred from the pockets in the chain to the discharge conveyor by a stripper member. As the filled, uncrowned bottles moving from the filling machine to the crowner move in a straight path of travel they are not subjected to centrifugal force and thereby liquid loss and air entrapment are minimized.

Growing community of inventors

Elm Grove, WI, United States of America

Ulrich H Petri