Roller bottle filling and harvesting system

Abstract

In the roller bottle filling and harvesting system of the present invention, a decapper, a medium harvesting and cleaning apparatus, a medium filling apparatus and a capper are all located in an aseptic chamber, in this order along a supply conveyor. Roller bottles at the medium harvesting and cleaning apparatus have their pitch aligned and a plural number of roller bottles are tilted from the upright position, through a predetermined angle and the used medium in the roller bottles is withdrawn, the bottles returned to the upright position and then filled with cleaning liquid by a roller bottle inner surface cleaning apparatus. Then, the roller bottles are sent to a roller bottle roll and tilt apparatus which tilts the roller bottles to a predetermined angle and rotates and cleans the roller bottles and then sends them to an adjacent supply conveyor. Furthermore, the plural number of roller bottles aligned and supplied to the medium filling apparatus, are tilted through a predetermined angle and the cleaning liquid inside them is withdrawn. The bottles are then returned to the upright position, filled with the required amounts of medium and CO.sub.2 gas by a double nozzle for the simultaneous filling thereof, in order to adjust the pH value, and are then sent to an adjacent supply conveyor.