Beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material having a filling machine with a filling control element
First Claim
1. In a beverage bottling plant, a filling machine being configured and disposed to fill bottles with a liquid beverage, said filling machine comprising:
- a first conveyor arrangement being configured and disposed to convey bottles to be filled to said bottle filling machine;
a rotor;
a rotatable vertical machine column;
said rotor being connected to said vertical machine column to permit rotation of said rotor about said vertical machine column;
a plurality of bottle filling elements for filling bottles with liquid beverage material being disposed on the periphery of said rotor;
each of said plurality of bottle filling elements comprising a bottle carrier being configured and disposed to receive and hold beverage bottles to be filled;
each of said plurality of bottle filling elements being configured and disposed to dispense liquid beverage material into bottles to be filled;
at least one liquid reservoir being configured to hold a supply of liquid beverage material;
a liquid supply line being configured and disposed to connect said at least one liquid reservoir to said bottle filling machine to supply liquid beverage material to said bottle filling machine;
at least one sensor being configured to sense the amount of liquid beverage being dispensed into bottles disposed beneath said filling elements;
a second conveying arrangement being configured and disposed to move bottles out of said bottle filling machine;
a flow valve being disposed in said liquid supply line;
said flow valve comprising a housing;
said housing comprising an inlet portion and an outlet portion;
a liquid channel being disposed in said housing and being configured to permit the flow of liquid therethrough;
said flow valve comprising;
an opening and closing device being disposed at a juncture between said inlet portion and said outlet portion;
said opening and closing device being configured and disposed to be moved, to permit the fast flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, to permit the slow flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, and to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve upon a bottle being filled;
an actuator device being configured to actuate said opening and closing device, said actuator device comprising;
a piston rod being connected to and extending perpendicularly away from said opening and closing device, and comprising an enlarged upper segment;
a housing being configured and disposed to house said piston rod;
a first lower piston being disposed within said housing and about said piston rod;
a first lower cylinder compartment being disposed between said first lower piston and said housing;
a second upper piston being disposed within said housing and about said piston rod;
a second upper cylinder compartment being disposed between said second upper piston and said housing;
said first lower piston being disposed substantially closer to said opening and closing device than said second upper piston;
a compression spring being disposed between said first lower piston and said second upper piston;
said compression spring being configured and disposed to apply a bias force to said piston rod to hold said opening and closing device in a closed rest position to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve;
a first adjustable stroke limiter being disposed in the upper side of said housing above said second upper piston;
a second adjustable stroke limiter being disposed in the upper side of said housing above said piston rod, and being disposed substantially parallel to said first adjustable stroke limiter;
a motor driven adjustment drive being configured to individually adjust said first adjustable stroke limiter and said second adjustable stroke limiter to compensate for variances in the liquid being bottled, such as for temperature and thickness of the liquid;
a first control valve being disposed outside of said housing;
a second control valve being disposed outside of said housing;
said first control valve being configured to pressurize said second upper cylinder compartment upon receiving a signal from said at least one sensor, and to move said piston rod, said first lower piston, and said second upper piston upwardly in a short stroke motion toward said first adjustable stroke limiter;
said first adjustable stroke limiter being configured and disposed to come into contact with said second upper piston and to stop the upward short stroke motion of said piston rod;
said upward short stroke motion of said piston rod being configured to move said opening and closing device from its closed rest position against the bias of said compression spring, and into a partially opened position, permitting a slow fill of a bottle being disposed beneath said filling device;
said second control valve being configured to pressurize said first lower cylinder compartment upon receiving a signal from said at least one sensor, and to move said piston rod and said first lower piston upwardly in a long stroke motion toward said second adjustable stroke limiter;
said second adjustable stroke limiter being configured and disposed to come into contact with said enlarged upper segment of said piston rod and to stop the upward long stroke motion of said piston rod;
said upward long stroke motion of said piston rod being configured to move said opening and closing device from its partially opened position and into a fully opened position, permitting a fast fill of a bottle being disposed beneath said filling device; and
said first control valve and said second control valve being configured to be deactivated to move said piston rod and said opening and closing device, back into a closed rest position upon a bottle being filled.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material having a filling machine with a filling control element. The abstract of the disclosure is submitted herewith as required by 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b). As stated in 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b): A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification must commence on a separate sheet, preferably following the claims, under the heading “Abstract of the Disclosure.” The purpose of the abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract shall not be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. Therefore, any statements made relating to the abstract are not intended to limit the claims in any manner and should not be interpreted as limiting the claims in any manner.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a beverage bottling plant, a filling machine being configured and disposed to fill bottles with a liquid beverage, said filling machine comprising:
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a first conveyor arrangement being configured and disposed to convey bottles to be filled to said bottle filling machine;
a rotor;
a rotatable vertical machine column;
said rotor being connected to said vertical machine column to permit rotation of said rotor about said vertical machine column;
a plurality of bottle filling elements for filling bottles with liquid beverage material being disposed on the periphery of said rotor;
each of said plurality of bottle filling elements comprising a bottle carrier being configured and disposed to receive and hold beverage bottles to be filled;
each of said plurality of bottle filling elements being configured and disposed to dispense liquid beverage material into bottles to be filled;
at least one liquid reservoir being configured to hold a supply of liquid beverage material;
a liquid supply line being configured and disposed to connect said at least one liquid reservoir to said bottle filling machine to supply liquid beverage material to said bottle filling machine;
at least one sensor being configured to sense the amount of liquid beverage being dispensed into bottles disposed beneath said filling elements;
a second conveying arrangement being configured and disposed to move bottles out of said bottle filling machine;
a flow valve being disposed in said liquid supply line;
said flow valve comprising a housing;
said housing comprising an inlet portion and an outlet portion;
a liquid channel being disposed in said housing and being configured to permit the flow of liquid therethrough;
said flow valve comprising;
an opening and closing device being disposed at a juncture between said inlet portion and said outlet portion;
said opening and closing device being configured and disposed to be moved, to permit the fast flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, to permit the slow flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, and to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve upon a bottle being filled;
an actuator device being configured to actuate said opening and closing device, said actuator device comprising;
a piston rod being connected to and extending perpendicularly away from said opening and closing device, and comprising an enlarged upper segment;
a housing being configured and disposed to house said piston rod;
a first lower piston being disposed within said housing and about said piston rod;
a first lower cylinder compartment being disposed between said first lower piston and said housing;
a second upper piston being disposed within said housing and about said piston rod;
a second upper cylinder compartment being disposed between said second upper piston and said housing;
said first lower piston being disposed substantially closer to said opening and closing device than said second upper piston;
a compression spring being disposed between said first lower piston and said second upper piston;
said compression spring being configured and disposed to apply a bias force to said piston rod to hold said opening and closing device in a closed rest position to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve;
a first adjustable stroke limiter being disposed in the upper side of said housing above said second upper piston;
a second adjustable stroke limiter being disposed in the upper side of said housing above said piston rod, and being disposed substantially parallel to said first adjustable stroke limiter;
a motor driven adjustment drive being configured to individually adjust said first adjustable stroke limiter and said second adjustable stroke limiter to compensate for variances in the liquid being bottled, such as for temperature and thickness of the liquid;
a first control valve being disposed outside of said housing;
a second control valve being disposed outside of said housing;
said first control valve being configured to pressurize said second upper cylinder compartment upon receiving a signal from said at least one sensor, and to move said piston rod, said first lower piston, and said second upper piston upwardly in a short stroke motion toward said first adjustable stroke limiter;
said first adjustable stroke limiter being configured and disposed to come into contact with said second upper piston and to stop the upward short stroke motion of said piston rod;
said upward short stroke motion of said piston rod being configured to move said opening and closing device from its closed rest position against the bias of said compression spring, and into a partially opened position, permitting a slow fill of a bottle being disposed beneath said filling device;
said second control valve being configured to pressurize said first lower cylinder compartment upon receiving a signal from said at least one sensor, and to move said piston rod and said first lower piston upwardly in a long stroke motion toward said second adjustable stroke limiter;
said second adjustable stroke limiter being configured and disposed to come into contact with said enlarged upper segment of said piston rod and to stop the upward long stroke motion of said piston rod;
said upward long stroke motion of said piston rod being configured to move said opening and closing device from its partially opened position and into a fully opened position, permitting a fast fill of a bottle being disposed beneath said filling device; and
said first control valve and said second control valve being configured to be deactivated to move said piston rod and said opening and closing device, back into a closed rest position upon a bottle being filled. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. In a bottling plant, a filling machine being configured and disposed to fill bottles with a liquid, said filling machine comprising:
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a first conveyor arrangement being configured and disposed to convey bottles to be filled to said bottle filling machine;
a plurality of bottle filling stations for filling bottles with liquid;
each of said plurality of bottle filling stations comprising a bottle carrier being configured and disposed to receive and hold bottles to be filled;
each of said plurality of bottle filling stations being configured and disposed to dispense liquid into bottles to be filled;
at least one liquid supply conduit being configured and disposed to supply liquid to said plurality of filling stations;
a second conveying arrangement being configured and disposed to move bottles out of said bottle filling machine;
a flow valve being disposed in said at least one liquid supply conduit;
said flow valve comprising a housing;
said housing comprising an inlet portion and an outlet portion;
a liquid channel being disposed in said housing and being configured to permit the flow of liquid therethrough;
said flow valve comprising;
an opening and closing device being disposed at a juncture between said inlet portion and said outlet portion and being configured and disposed to be moveable, to permit the flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, and to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve upon a bottle being filled;
an actuator device being configured to actuate said opening and closing device to open and close said opening and closing device;
at least two adjustable stroke limiters each being configured to limit the stroke of the opening and closing device to a determined stroke;
a first of said at least two adjustable stroke limiters being configured to provide a first flow rate to a bottle;
a second of said at least two adjustable stroke limiters being configured to provide a second flow rate to a bottle;
said first flow rate and said second flow rate being substantially different;
each of said adjustable stroke limiters having an adjustment drive being configured to adjust the stroke of said opening and closing device to optimize the flow of liquid into a bottle at a determined time during the filling cycle of a bottle; and
a stroke limit controller being configured to adjust the stroke of each stroke limiter to compensate for changing conditions of the liquid and thus to minimize the time of the filling of the bottle. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of filling a bottle with a liquid in a bottle filling machine in a bottle filling plant, said bottle filling machine comprising:
- a first conveyor arrangement being configured and disposed to convey bottles to be filled to said bottle filling machine;
a plurality of bottle filling stations for filling bottles with liquid;
each of said plurality of bottle filling stations comprising a bottle carrier being configured and disposed to receive and hold bottles to be filled;
each of said plurality of bottle filling stations being configured and disposed to dispense liquid into bottles to be filled;
at least one liquid supply conduit being configured and disposed to supply liquid to said plurality of filling stations;
a second conveying arrangement being configured and disposed to move bottles out of said bottle filling machine;
a flow valve being disposed in said at least one liquid supply conduit;
said flow valve comprising a housing;
said housing comprising an inlet portion and an outlet portion;
a liquid channel being disposed in said housing and being configured to permit the flow of liquid therethrough;
said flow valve comprising;
an opening and closing device being disposed at a juncture between said inlet portion and said outlet portion and being configured and disposed to be moveable, to permit the flow of liquid from said inlet portion to said outlet portion during filling, and to block the flow of liquid through said flow valve upon a bottle being filled;
an actuator device being configured to actuate said opening and closing device to open and close said opening and closing device;
at least two adjustable stroke limiters each being configured to limit the stroke of the opening and closing device to a determined stroke;
a first of said at least two adjustable stroke limiters being configured to provide a first flow rate to a bottle;
a second of said at least two adjustable stroke limiters being configured to provide a second flow rate to a bottle;
said first flow rate and said second flow rate being substantially different;
each of said adjustable stroke limiters having an adjustment drive being configured to adjust the stroke of said opening and closing device to optimize the flow of liquid into a bottle at a determined time during the filling cycle of a bottle; and
a stroke limit controller being configured to adjust the stroke of each stroke limiter to compensate for changing conditions of the liquid and thus to minimize the time of the filling of the bottle, said method comprising the steps of;
adjusting the first of said least two stroke limiters with said adjustment drive to a first position to compensate for variances in the liquid or for different characteristics of the liquid to be bottled during a bottling run;
activating the actuator device to move said opening and closing device upwardly toward the first of said at least two stroke limiters;
stopping the upward movement of said actuator device with the first of said at least two stroke limiters to permit a slow filling of a bottle;
adjusting the second of said least two stroke limiters with said adjustment drive to a second position to compensate for variances in the liquid or for different characteristics of the liquid to be bottled during a bottling run;
activating the actuator device to move said opening and closing device upwardly toward the second of said at least two stroke limiters;
stopping the upward movement of said actuator device with the second of said at least two stroke limiters to permit a fast filling of a bottle; and
deactivating said actuator device upon a bottle being filled to move said opening and closing device to its starting position to block the flow of liquid into a bottle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- a first conveyor arrangement being configured and disposed to convey bottles to be filled to said bottle filling machine;
Specification