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Container filling apparatus and method

  • US 8,701,721 B2
  • Filed: 02/29/2012
  • Issued: 04/22/2014
  • Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for filling containers with a flowable product, the apparatus comprising:

  • (a) a product supply operable to create a flow of the flowable product;

    (b) a manifold;

    (c) a flow pathway along which the flowable product flows from the product supply to the manifold;

    (d) a plurality of filling stations at which containers are filled with the flowable product, each filling station comprising,(i) a fill valve assembly connected to the manifold by a flow pathway along which the flowable product flows from the manifold to the fill valve assembly, the fill valve assembly comprising a fill valve and a nozzle connected to a downstream end of the fill valve and configured to direct, during a filling operation, the flowable product into a container located beneath the nozzle; and

    (ii) a capacitive sensor mounted in a preselected position relative to the apparatus and configured such that, during a filling operation, the capacitive sensor is operable(A) to sense, through the container, when the flowable product reaches a predetermined fill level within the container, and(B) to generate a signal in response to the sensing of the flowable product reaching the predetermined fill level within the container,(C) wherein the predetermined fill level corresponds to the threshold of the capacitive sensor'"'"'s range for first sensing the flowable product within the container,(D) wherein the sensor is disposed outside the container and does not physically contact the flowable product or the container during the filling operation, and(E) wherein the positioning of the capacitive sensor is adjustable prior to the filling operation, whereby different predetermined fill levels within a container can be selected, and whereby different container configurations can be filled to a predetermined fill level at the filling station, by adjusting the positioning of the capacitive sensor; and

    (e) a controller operably coupled to each respective capacitive sensor at the filling stations, wherein the controller is configured to independently operate the fill valve at each respective filling station in response to receiving the generated signal from the capacitive sensor at such filling station so as to close the fill valve and stop flow of the flowable product into a container at such filling station.

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