GB1570352A - Charging of flowable material into open top containers - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE CHARGING OF FLOWABLE MATERIAL INTO OPEN TOP CONTAINERS (71) I, MICHAEL BRYON OSBORNE, a British Subject, of 31 Church Lane, Kirkella, Humberside. do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a Patent may be granted to me, and the method by which is it to be performed. to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a method and apparatus for charging flowable material, such as liquids or powders. into open-top containers such as bottles. jars, and cans.

It is well known in the art to charge an open-top container with flowable material by the steps of placing the container beneath the discharge outlet of a hopper containing flowable material, opening a valve to allow flowable material to flow through the discharge outlet into the container, and then closing the valve to terminate discharge of flowable material through said outlet when the container has received the desired charge of flowable material.

It is also known to provide automatic charging arrangements operating on the above described method of charging and such arrangements necessarily include means for successively locating containers beneath the discharge outlet and means for operating the valve in timed sequence to the supply of containers beneath the discharge outlet. When the containers are to be equally charged with a predetermined amount of flowable material to maintain a constant head of material therein, the flowable material is thereby discharged through the open discharge outlet at a constant flow rate, and the amount of material discharged through the discharge outlet is thereby entirely dependent upon the time period the valve is open.

A difficultv with the known automatic charging arrangements is that the valve closure member is usually actuated by a cam driven reciprocating mechanical means and.

as the speed of operation increases, the inertia of the valve closure member and the mechanical means increases so that at speeds in excess of 400 to 500 cycles per minute the inertia of the valve closure member and the reciprocating mechanical means adversely affect the desired time sequence of operation for the valve, to the detriment of accurate discharge to the containers. There have in the past been a number of proposals to overcome this problem, one such proposal is to actuate the valve closure member directly with a solenoid arrangement, but such arrangements as are capable of operating at speeds above 400 cycles per minute without adversely affecting the valve sequence cannot withstand continuous highspeed operation for prolonged periods and as such are expensive to maintain and unacceptable to modern high speed practice.

The present invention seeks to provide a method of and apparatus for filling flowable material, such as liquids or powders, into open-top containers such as bottles, jars, and cans and which method, and apparatus, can operate at speeds in excess of 400 container filling cycles per minute.

According to the present invention there is provided a method for charging flowable material into an open-top container comprising the steps of conveying an open-top container to a location beneath a flowable material discharge outlet closed by a valve closure member, operating first pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to an open position whereby to permit flowable material discharge through said discharge outlet into said container, operating second pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to a closure condition whereby to terminate the supply of flowable material through said discharge outlet, and permitting flowable material discharge through a by-pass adjacent said discharge outlet when the valve closure member is closing said discharge outlet.

Preferably, the method includes the steps of displacing the container with uniform speed through said location and operating the first and second pneumatic means in timed relationship to the displacement of the container through said location in such manner that the valve closure member is in its open condition to allow material discharge into the container only whilst the open mouth of the container is beneath the said discharge outlet.

The invention envisages charging flowable material into a plurality of containers and according to this aspect there is provided a method comprising the steps of successively conveying open-top containers beneath the discharge outlet of a constant volume reservoir of flowable material, said discharge outlet being normally closed by a valve closure member, operating first pneumatic means to displace the valve closure member from its closure condition to allow flow of the flowable material through said discharge outlet only when the leading edge of each container passes through and beyond the path of material discharge through said discharge outlet, operating second pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to its closure condition to terminate the discharge of flowable material through said discharge outlet before the trailing edge of a container being filled passes into the path of material discharge from said discharge outlet, and discharging flowable material from said constant volume reservoir through a by-pass outlet adjacent the discharge outlet whilst the valve closure member is in its closure position.

With many flowable'materials, such as soups, which may have a solid matter in suspension in a liquid media, it is important to keep the material in movement to avoid settling out or the like change of consistency and to avoid such undesirable effect the method includes the step of discharging flowable material from said constant volume reservoir through a by-pass outlet adjacent the discharge outlet whilst the valve closure is in its closure position and, conveniently, the step of recycling discharges through the by-pass to the constant volume reservoir. By this means a substantially constant flor of material adjacent the discharge outlet is obtained and settling out in the vicinity of the discharge is avoided.

Preferably the method includes the steps of conveying containers successively along a defined path and discharging flowable material into each container successively from each of a plurality of discharge outlets arranged above the said path.

Preferably the method includes the step of relating the speed of each container beneath the said discharge outlets so that the sum total of material discharged into each container from said outlet comprises the desired contents for the container.

The invention also envisages apparatus for charging flowable material into open-top containers and according to this aspect of the invention there is provided a flowable material reservoir, a discharge outlet from said reservoir, a valve closure member displaceable between an open position, permitting flow of material through said discharge outlet, and a closed position preventing flow of material from said discharge outlet whilst permitting flow of material through a by-pass adjacent the discharge outlet, first pneumatic means for displacing said valve closure member from said closed position to said open position, second pneumatic means for displacing said valve closure member from said open position to said closed position, means for conveying open-top containers beneath said discharge outlet, and control means for actuating said first and second pneumatic means in timed relationship to the passage of containers beneath said discharge outlet whereby material is discharged from said discharge outlet only into said containers.

Preferably said first and second pneumatic means each comprise an air supply conduit arranged to receive pneumatic pulses from a pressure air supply via a rotary valve.

In one embodiment in accordance with the invention said air supply conduits are pulsed with pneumatic air from a common pressure air supply via a common rotary valve comprising a fixed member with a bore therein, a rotor rotatable in said bore, connections to said air supply conduits opening at said bore in spaced apart relationship, and at least one connection to said common pressure air supply opening at said bore, said rotor being adapted to connect said openings to said dir supply conduits with an opening to said common pressure air supply during different parts of each revolution of the rotor and whereby pneumatic pules are successively applied to said air supply conduits.

Said rotor may conveniently comprise a rotor body with a groove of limited circumferential length in its peripheral surface and all said openings at said bore are arranged to lie in the same plane as said groove where by. during each rotation of the rotor, said groove connects the air supply conduit for the first pneumatic means with a first connection to the common pressure air supply and the said groove connects the air supply conduit for the second pneumatic means to a second connection to the common pressure air supply.

In an alternative arrangement said rotor comprises two rotor bodies in axial alignment arranged for mutual rotation, one of said rotor bodies presents means for connecting said supply conduit of said first pneumatic to said common pressure air supply and the other rotor presents means for connecting said supply conduit of said second pneumatic means to said common air supply, said rotor bodies being angularly adjustable relative to one another whereby the dwell periods between pulses to said first and second pneumatic means are adjustable.

In a further embodiment said air supply conduit for said first pneumatic means receives pneumatic pulses via a first rotary valve, said air supply conduit for said second pneumatic means receives pneumatic pulses via a second rotary valve, said first and second rotary valves are linked for mutual displacement, and the rotors of said valves are angularly adjustable relative to one another whereby the dwell periods between pulses to said first and second pneumatic means are adjustable.

Preferably the valve closure member is rigidly linked for mutual displacement with a double acting piston. said first pneumatic means deliver pneumatic pulses to one side of the piston and said second pneumatic means deliver pneumatic pulses to the other side of said piston.

Preferably said control means includes means for preventing displacement of the valve closure member from its closed position. in response to a pneumatic pulse from said first pneumatic means, in the absence of a container beneath the discharge outlet and conveniently said means for preventing displacement of the valve closure member comprises a piston and cylinder arrangement. actuated by means for sensing a no-container condition beneath the discharge outlet, and arranged, when actuated, to restrain the valve closure member against displacement from its closure condition with a greater force than that exerted by delivery of a pneumatic pulse by said first pneumatic means.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention said flowable material reservoir includes a plurality of spaced apart discharge outlets, each of which has a valve closure member displaceable between a closed position and an open position by actuation of first pneumatic means individual thereto and between an open position and a closed position by second pneumatic means individual thereto. Conveniently all said first pneumatic means receive pneumatic pulses simultaneously from a common rotary valve and all said second pneumatic means receive pneumatic pulses simultaneously from a common rotary valve.

Preferably said discharge outlets are arranged in a single row in the direction of container displacement, whereby each container passes successively beneath said discharge outlets, and said means for conveying the containers displace the containers at such a speed related to the discharge of material through said discharge outlets that each container receives part of its material contents from each discharge outlet.

In a preferred embodiment the present invention provides apparatus for charging flowable material into open-top containers comprising a constant volume reservoir, a plurality of spaced apart valve chambers in the lower regions of said reservoir, a discharge outlet from each valve chamber, a by-pass outlet from each valve chamber, a valve closure member individual to each valve chamber and displaceable between a closed position, wherein said valve closure member obstructs flow of material through said discharge outlet and allows material flow through said by-pass outlet, and an open position, wherein said valve closure member permits material flow through said discharge outlet and obstructs material flow through said by-pass outlet, conveying means for conveying open-top containers successively beneath each of said discharge outlets, first pneumatic means individual to each valve closure member for displacing the valve closure member from its closed to its open position only when the leading edge of the open top of a container has passed through the path of material discharge from the respective discharge outlet, and second pneumatic means individual to each valve closure member arranged to displace the valve closure member from its open to its closed position before the trailing edge of the open top of the container passes into the path of material discharge from said discharge outlet.

Preferably the valve closure member is arranged for displacement in a horizontal plane and with this arrangement, and contrary to the conventional mechanical arrangements and electrical arrangements such as solenoids, the present proposed pneumatic valve closure displacement arrangement does not require a holding force for holding the valve closure member in one or the other of its two positions.

When, for example, the first and second pneumatic means supply pneumatic pulses to opposite ends of a double acting piston and cylinder arrangement, it is necessary only to apply a pulse to one end of the cylinder to effect displacement of the piston and valve closure member attached thereto then the charged end of the cylinder can immediately exhaust via the clearances in the pneumatic piston and cylinder arrange ment and, if desired, bleed holes. Thus, towards the end of each dwell period between successive pulses both ends of the cylinder will be at atmospheric pressure.

When a pneumatic pulse is applied to one end of the cylinder to cause displacement of the piston head the air in the contracting cylinder end will be compressed but, due to the clearances in the system, this compressed air will escape rapidly and the positive pressure will always be on the pulsed side of the piston head. Nevertheless the pressure in the contracting side of the cylinder can cushion the piston head as said head approaches its extreme position to avoid shock and undue vibration in the system and a smooth but positive displacement of the piston head and the valve closure member is obtained.Thus, by the use of pneumatic pulses for driving the piston with the valve closure member attached thereto and with exhaust of the charged end of the cylinder between successive pulses, the cylinder volumes on both sides of the piston are at substantially equal pressure before each pulse is applied. the friction forces on the recriprocating parts of the mechanism are low and a relatively low air pressure can be utilized to effect displacement of the piston and valve closure member.

Further, as the charged end of a cylinder will maintain a holding pressure on the piston whilst said end is exhausting "bounce" and the like recoil or rebound effects are completely avoided so that accurate location of the valve closure member at its first and second positions is always achieved.

The invention will now be described further by way of example with reference to the drawings accompanying the provisional specification in which: Figure 1 shows. diagrammatically, and partially in cross-section, a filling apparatus in accordance with the invention.

Figures 2A and 2B show, diagrammatically. a hopper arrangement with a plurality of discharge outlets and a rotor arrangement for controlling said outlets respectively.

Figure 3 shows. in cross-section, an alternative arrangement for the supply of pneumatic pulses to the valve actuating mechanism shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 shows, diagrammatically. a drive arrangement for the arrangement shown in Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a turther embodiment of a rotor for supplying pneumatic pulses to the valve actuating mechanism shown in Figure 2.

In the apparatus shown in Figure 1 a hopper, generally identified by reference numeral 11. comprises inclined side walls 12 and 13, end walls, only one of which (wall 14) is shown, and a bottom 15. The hopper 11 has an internal upstanding wall 16 of limited height adjacent end wall 14 and which serves to separate the interior of the hopper longitudinally into chambers 17 and 18.

The hopper 11 is supplied with flowable material via a duct 19 from a reservoir 20, duct 19 discharges into chamber 17, the supply of flowable material from duct 19 to hopper 11 exceeds the amount of flowable material to be dispensed to containers. and the excess flowable material flows over the wall 16 into the chamber 18 and is evacuated from chamber 18 via a duct 21 which returns said material to the reservoir 20. By this means a constant head of flowable material is maintained in the chamber 17.

A valve chamber 22 opens upwardly through the bottom 15 to the chamber 17, and a valve closure member 23 is retained in close sliding relationship to the bottom surface of the bottom wall 24 of chamber 22 by a fixed plate 25. The bottom wall 24 of chamber 22 has a discharge outlet 26 and a by-pass outlet 27 therein, spaced apart in the direction of displacement of valve clo sure member 23, and fixed plate 25 has an opening 28 aligned with discharge outlet 26 and locates the open end of a duct 29 in alignment with by-pass outlet 27. The valve closure member 23 has one opening 30 therethrough and, in one extreme position of valve closure member 23, the opening 30 connects the by-pass outlet with duct 29 whilst in the other extreme position for the closure member 23 the opening 30 connects the discharge outlet 26 with opening 28.The duct 29 discharges to the reservoir 20.

Open top containers, in this case cans 31, rest on a slide conveyor 32 and are conveyed beneath the plate 25 by feed worms 33 and 34 in such manner that the vertical plane passing through the axes of cans 31 passes centrally through the opening 28.

The valve closure member 23 is rigidly connected to a piston rod 35 which passes centrally through end walls 36 and 37 of a cylinder 38. A piston head 39 is mounted on piston rod 35 within cylinder 38 and, on that end of rod 35 remote from valve closure member 23, the piston rod 35 has an enlarged anvil end 40.

A conduit 41 connects that volume of cylinder 38 between piston head 39 and end wall 36 with a bore 42 in a fixed member 43 and a conduit 44 connects that volume within cylinder 38 between piston head 39 and end wall 37 with the bore 42. A conduit 45 connects the bore 42 with a pressure reservoir 46 and a conduit 47 connects bore 42 to reservoir 46.

The openings for conduits 41, 44, 45 and 47 at bore 42 all lie in the same plane at right angles to the axis of bore 42, and a rotor 48 is rotatably mounted within bore 42 and presents a circumferential groove 49 in its cylindrical surface aligned with the plane of the openings of ducts 41, 44, 45 and 47 at the bore 42.

As will be seen from Figure 1 the rotor 48 is mounted on a drive shaft 50 arranged to rotate the rotor 48 anti-clockwise and the conduit 45 opens to the bore 42 a fixed distance, in the anti-clockwise direction, from the opening of conduit 41 and the conduit 47 opens to bore 42 anti-clockwise of the opening of conduit 44 and spaced from the opening of conduit 44 by the same distance as that spacing the openings of conduits 41 and 45. The groove 49 has a circumferential length slightly greater than the distance between the openings of conduits 41 and 45 and of conduits 44 and 47 at bore 42. The reservoir 46 is maintained at a substantially uniform pressure, conveniently between the 40 and 50 p.s.i. by a pump 51.

The apparatus described above operates as follows.

The can feed worms 33 and 34 advance cans 31 successively along slide-way 32 at a substantially uniform speed and with uniforn spacing and the rotor 48-is rotated in timed relationship with the worms 33, 34.

Starting from the condition in which there is no can 31 located beneath the plate 25 to receive flowable material the valve closure member 23 is in its extreme right hand position as shown in Figure 1 and whereby flowable material from chamber 17 flows through valve chamber 22 and through the by-pass outlet 27, through opening 30, and duct 29 for return to the reservoir 20. With the mechanical parts in the position described the arcuate groove 49 in rotor 48 lies between conduit 47 and conduit 41. As a can 31 advances to locate the leading edge of its upper open end past opening 28 the rotor 48 advances the leading edge 49a of the groove 49 past the opening to conduit 45 whereupon pressure air flows from conduit 45, along the groove 49, through conduit 41 and into the cylinder 38 between end wall 36 and piston 39.The released pressure air into the right hand volume of cylinder 38 (as viewed in Figure 1) drives the piston head 39, piston rod 35 and valve closure member 23 towards the left (as viewed in Figure 1) until, in the extreme left hand position for piston 39, the opening 30 aligns with discharge outlet 26 and opening 28 and flowable material now flows from valve chamber 22 through discharge outlet 26, opening 30, and opening 28 into the can 31. With the valve closure member 23 in its extreme left hand position said member obstructs the flow of material through the outlet 27 to duct 29 so that flow through the by-pass is terminated.

As, with rotor 48 continuing to rotate, the trailing end 49b of the groove 49 passes the open end of conduit 41 to terminate the free flow of pressure air between conduits 45 and 41, the pressure air in conduit 41 and the right hand volume of cylinder 38 exhaust through the clearance between rotor 48 and bore 42, the generous clearance between piston rod 35 and end wall 36, and the clearance between the piston head 39 and cylinder 38, whereby pressure in the right hand volume of cylinder 38 rapidly falls to atmospheric pressure.Continued rotation of the rotor 48, in timed relation with the displacement of can 31, allows groove 49 to connect conduit 44 with conduit 47, whereby pressure air flows from conduit 47, along groove 49, and through conduit 44 into the left hand volume of cylinder 38 to displace the piston 39 and attached valve closure member 23 to their extreme right hand position (as viewed in Figure 1). In the extreme right hand position the valve closure member 23 obstructs the flow of material from discharge outlet 26 to terminate the supply of flowable material to the cam 31 and the opening 30 aligns with by-pass outlet 27 and duct 29 to direct flowable material to reservoir 20. The termination of material discharge from outlet 26 is effected before the trailing edge of the open end of cam 31 enters the path of material discharging through opening 28.

It will be seen that with the above arrangement the discharge of flowable material into a can 31 occurs only whilst the opening 30 is aligned with discharge outlet 26 and opening 28, the periods of discharge to a can 31 and no discharge through outlet 26 is controlled by the period between the pneumatic pulses applied to piston 39 and these periods are controlled by the angular positions of the openings of conduits 41, 44, 45 and 47 to the bore of fixed member 43.

The reciprocating part of the mechanism is restricted to the valve closure member 23, rod 35, and the piston head 39, all of which can have relatively low mass, and can therefore be readily and very rapidly displaced by the pneumatic pulses. It will also be observed that a dwell period occurs between successive displacement movements of the piston head 39, so that rapid changes of direction of displacement of the reciprocating mechanism are avoided and, as each end of the cylinder 38 can exhaust pressure air relatively rapidly there are no unnecessary forces retaining the valve closure member 23 in one or the other of its extreme positions to be overcome when a displacement is initiated. It will be appreciated that bleed holes may be provided in cylinder 38 to assist rapid release of pressure air therefrom.

With a filling arrangement of the type described above it is most desirable that there should be no discharge of flowable material through the discharge outlet 26 in the absence of a can 31 beneath opening 28 due perhaps to a fault in the mechanism supplying cans 31 to the feed worms 33, 34.

To prevent discharge in this "no-can" situation a cylinder 52 with a piston 53 slidable therein has its piston rod 54 axially aligned with piston rod 35. The cylinder 52 is so located relative to cylinder 38 that in the extreme right hand position for piston 53 the free end of rod 54 engages the anvil head 40 to hold the piston 39 and closure member 23 in their right hand position. The stroke of piston 53 is slightly greater than the stroke of piston 39 whereby, when piston 53 is in its extreme left hand position, the reciprocation of piston 39 is unaffected.

The cylinder 52 to the left hand side of piston 53 (as viewed in Figure 1) is supplied with pressure air from reservoir 46 through a conduit 55, via a valve 56. only when a can sensing finger 57 detects a iino-can" condition in feed worms 33 and 34. In the normally closed condition valve 56 connects the left hand volume in cylinder 52 to atmosphere via an exhaust duct 58.

In operation, and with an uninterrupted supply of cans 31 to worms 33 and 34, valve 56 prevents air flow to cylinder 52, the piston 53 is in its extreme left hand position.

and rod 54 offers no obstruction to the reciprocation of piston rod 36. piston 39 and valve closure member 23. If now the sensing finger 57 detects a "no-can" position in feed worms 33 and 34 the valve 56 opens to release pressure air into cylinder 52, and piston 53 and rod 54 are displaced to their extreme right hand positions before the pneumatic pulse is applied to cylinder 38 via conduit 41 to initiate a displacement of valve closure member to a discharge position.The diameter of piston 53 is greater than the diameter of piston 39 and thus, when the left hand side of cylinder 52 is supplied with pressure air and a pneumatic pulse is ap plied to cylinder 38 via conduit 41, the pneumatic forces urging piston 53 to the right are greater than the pneumatic forces urging piston 39 to the left so that piston 39, rod 35 and valve closure member 23 are retained in their extreme right hand posi tions, preventing material discharge through discharge outlet 26. When the sensing finger 57 detects 'a can to be filled" condition valve 56 is closed. the left hand side of cylinder 52 exhausts via duct 58 and, when the next pneumatic pulse is applied to displace piston 39 towards the left, piston rod 35 engages piston rod 54, and readily drives piston 53 to its extreme left hand, inoperative position.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 2A a hopper 60, in like manner to hopper 11 and with a cross-section similar to hopper 11.

comprises inclined side walls 61 and 62, end walls 63 and 64, and internal walls 65 and 66. adjacent but spaced from end walls 63 and 64 respectively. Internal walls 65 and 66 have their upper edges lower than the upper edges of walls 61, 62, 63 and 64. The central part of hopper 60 between internal walls 65 and 66 is supplied with flowable material via a duct 67 from a reservoir 6X, duct 67 supplies flowable material in excess of that to be dispensed to containers, and excess material flowing over the top of wall 65 into the space between walls 65 and end will 63 is evacuated therefrom via duct 69 whilst excess material flowing over the upper edge of internal wall 66 into the space between walls 66 and end wall 64 is evacuated via a duct 70. The ducts 69 and 70 return the excess material to reservoir 68.

The hopper 6() also has a bottom 71 with a plurality of valve arrangements 72, equally spaced apart in the direction of the hopper 60 and each o which includes a valve chamber openilig through bottom 71 to the interior of hopper 6() between internal walls 65 and 66. Each valve arrangement 72 is identical in construction ind arranged to operate in identical manner to the valve arrangement disclosed in Figure 1, and this includes a valve chamber 22, a valve closure member 23, fixed plate 25. A pneumatic double acting piston and cylinder arrangement 73, identically constructed and arranged to operate in identical manner to piston and cylinder arrangement 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 is associated with each valve arrangement 72.

Each pneumatic double acting piston and cylinder arrangement 73 has conduits 41 and 44 for supplying pneumatic air pulses to the volumes of its respective cylinder 38 and said conduits 41 and 44 are supplied with said pneumatic pulses by a rotary valve arrangement. The rotary valve arrangement shown in Figure 2B comprises a fixed part 74 with a bore 75, and a rotor 76 rotated in bore 75, in timed relationship to the supply of containers beneath the valve arrangements 72 via a gear box 77. All the conduits 41 open to the bore 75 in a common plane passing through the rotational axis of rotor 76 and all the conduits 44 open to bore 75 in a common plane passing through the axis of rotor 76 and angularly spaced from the plane of the conduits 41. The rotor 76 has one groove 78 extending longitudinally thereof, the ends of groove 78 are closed by end plates 79 and 80, and the axial length of groove 78 between end plates 79 and 80 is such that all the openings in conduits 41 and 44 open to groove 78 between plate 79 and 80 once during each complete revolution of rotor 76.

The rotor 76 has its end remote from gear box 77 entered, through a fluid tight rotary seal, into a chamber 81 supplied with pressure air from a resevoir (not shown) via a duct 82, the rotor 76 has a blind axial bore 83 open to said chamber 81 and terminating in the same plane as the end plate 79, and a, plurality of radial bores 84 connect bore 83 to the groove 78, whereby the groove 78 is continuously supplied with pressure air.

In operation. and with rotor 76 rotating in timed relationship to the displacement of cans (not shown) beneath the discharge outlets of the valves arrangements 72, and with pressure air supplied to duct 82, all the conduits 41 are exposed to the groove 78 simultaneously as the groove 78 aligns with the plane of the openings of conduits 41 to the bore 75 and pressure air flows along the conduits 41 to displace all the valve closure members 23 to initiate charging of the cans.

As the groove 78 is rotated out of alignment with the openings of conduits 41'the supply of pressure air to conduits 41 is terminated and the pressure in said conduits 41 and their respective cylinders 38 exhaust in identical manner to that described for the Figure 1 embodiment. Continued rotation of rotor 76 brings the groove 78 into alignment with the open ends of conduits 44 so that pressure air flows into conduits 44 to reverse alignment of the valve closure mem bers 23 to terminate the discharge of flow able material.

The groove 78 preferably has such a volume, relative to the volume of conduits 41 and cylinders 38 and the volume of conduits 44 and the cylinders 38, and the pressure of the air supplied to the bore 82, are arranged such that the groove 78 charges with pressure air during dwell periods (periods when the groove 78 is not open to conduit 41 or 44) and, immediately the groove 78 aligns with the openings of conduits 41 or 44 the pressure air in groove 78 is sufficient to effect rapid displacement of the valve closure members 23.

The hopper 60 shown in Figure 2A may operate to charge a plurality of cans simultaneously, there being a can located beneath each valve arrangement 72 during each charging displacement of the valve closure members 23 and each charging displacement movement of the valve closures 23 may release a full and complete can charge to cans being conveyed at right angles to the length direction of the hopper 60, or each valve arrangement 72 may dispense a part charge for each can therebeneath when the cans are displaced parallel to the length direction of the hopper and whereby each can is progressively charged with material as it passes beneath the valve arrangements 72.

It will be appreciated that a "no-can no-fill" facility. conveniently a piston and cylinder arrangement similar to piston and cylinder arrangement 52, 53. 54 will be provided for each valve arrangement 72.

The arrangements shown in Figures 1 2A and 2B and wherein the conduits 41 and 44 have fixed angular spacing, and thereby a fixed dwell period relationship, is adequate for long continuous runs on identical containers requiring identical charges but if the apparatus is to be used to dispense different material charges it becomes necessary to provide adjustment for the pneumatic pulses.

The arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 is one rotary valve arrangement which allows adjustment of the pneumatic pulsing cycle.

In the illustrated embodiment a conduit 41 opens to the bore 85 of a first fixed member 86 and a conduit 45, communicating with a pressure reservoir, such as reservoir 46, also opens to bore 85, the openings of conduits 41 and 45 at bore 85 lie in the same plane perpendicular to the axis of bore 85 and are circumferentially spaced apart. A rotor 87 is rotatable in bore 85 and presents a groove 88 in the plane of the openings to conduits 41 and 45 and of such circumferential length as to allow communication between conduits 41 and 45 once during each revolution of rotor 87.

A second fixed member 89, having a bore 90, lies in side by side relationship with member 86 and with its bore 90 parallel to bore 85. A conduit 44 opens to bore 90, and a pressure supply conduit 47, connected to a pressure reservoir such as reservoir 46, also opens to the bore 90 in circumferentially spaced relationship to the opening to conduit 44 but in the same plane perpendicular to the axis of bore 90. A rotor 91, rotatable in bore 90, has a groove 92 lying in the same plane as the openings to the conduits 44 and 47 and has such circumferential length as to allow communication between conduits 44 and 47 once for each revolution of rotor 90.

The rotor 87 has a chain wheel 93 secured thereon, rotor 91 has a chain wheel 94 secured thereon, and an endless drive chain 95 passes over chain wheels 93 and 94 and around a drive pulley 96 which is rotated in timed relationship with the supply of containers to be filled to the hopper arrangement. A timing pulley 97 engages the chain 95 between chain wheels 93 and 94 and is adjustable, via a screw thread 98 normal to the plane passing through the axes of pulleys 93 and 94. A tensioning pulley 99 engages the chain 95 between chain wheels 94 and 96. Said chain wheel 99 is urged against the chain 95 by a compression spring 100.

To set up the rotary valve arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 the chain wheels 97 and 99 are withdrawn from the chain 95 and, with the chain wheel 96 in the position related to the container drive to indicate the point at which material discharges should initiate, the chain wheel 93 is rotated relative to belt 95 until the groove 88 connects conduits 45 and 41 to constitute a pneumatic pulse delivery condition to the right hand side of cylinder 38 (as viewed in Figure 1).

The chain wheel 94 is then rotated, relative to the chain 95 and chain wheel 93, until the groove 92 is brought to the angular position, relative to the angular position of groove 88, as to afford the desired relationship of the dwell period between material delivery initiation and termination pulses.The chain wheel 94 is then advanced clockwise, as viewed in Figure 4, by a small arc, conveniently in the region of 10 to 200, and, with chain wheel 93 held stationary, the chain 95 is applied to chain wheel 94, the tensioning pulley 99, and chain wheel 97 are engaged against chain 95 and adjusted until chain wheel 97 is deflecting the chain between chain wheels 93 and 94, and the deflection of chain 95 whilst chain wheel 93 is held fixed, retards chain wheel 94 anticlockwise until chain wheel 94 and the rotor 91 secured therewith are in the desired position to afford the desired dwell relationship of the periods between the pneumatic pulses. Thus, with the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4, rough adjustments to the dwell periods are made by displacing the chain wheels 93 and 94 relative to the chain 95 and fine adjustments are made to the timing wheel 97.By this arrangement substantially any desired relationship of the dwell periods can be obtained.

The arrangement illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 operates as follows.

With the drive pulley 96 rotating in direct relationship to the displacement of cans, the rotor 87 rotates the groove 88 to allow communication between conduits 41 and 45 once for each complete revolution of rotor 87 to deliver a pulse effecting displacement of the valve closure member 23 to a material discharge condition. In like manner, the rotor 91 rotates the groove 92 to allow communication between ducts 44 and 47, once during each revolution of rotor 91, to deliver a pulse effecting displacement of the valve closure member 23 to its extreme right hand position where material flow from the valve chamber 22 is to the by-pass 29.

The arrangement illustrated in Figure 5 shows an alternative rotor arrangement for varying the relationship between the dwell periods and comprises a shaft 101 with spaced apart flanges 102 and 103 secured on shaft 101 and with rotors 104 and 105, rotatable on shaft 101, between the flanges 102 and 103. The rotor 104 has one axially extending groove 106 in its peripheral surface and the rotor 105 has one axially extending groove 107 in its peripheral surface.

The rotor 105 is retained with flange 103 by a bolt 108 which passes through an arcuate groove 109 in flange 103 and into threaded engagement with a bore (not shown) in rotor 105 and, in like manner, the rotor 104 is connected to flange 102 by a bolt (not shown) engaging through an arcuate slot (not shown) in flange 102 and into threaded engagement with a bore (not shown) in rotor 104.

It will be appreciated that, as with the embodiments described hereinbefore, the rotor 104 rotates in the bore of a fixed member, a conduit 41 opens to said bore, a conduit 45 opens to said bore, in spaced relationship with conduit 41 and conduit 45 communicates with the conduit 41 when the groove 106 aligns with the openings of conduits 41 and 45 at the said bore. The rotor 105 also rotates in the bore of a fixed member having a conduit 44 opening to said bore, and a supply conduit 47 opening to said bore spaced from the conduit 44 and, again, the conduits 44 and 47 communicate when the groove 107 aligns therewith.

The shaft 101 is driven in time relationship with the container feed beneath the hopper and the rotors 104 and 105 are individually angularly adjustable with respect to the shaft 101, by way of their respective bolt and slot arrangements, and, as with the Figure 3 and 4 embodiment, a relatively wide variation of dwell period relationships can be obtained.

Whilst the adjustable rotor arrangements shown in Figures 3 and 4 and Figure 5 have been described as having only one pressure supply conduit and one pressure take-off conduit associated with each rotor it will be appreciated that each pressure take-off conduit, such as conduits 41 and 44, may feed branch lines to operate simultaneously a plurality of cylinders, such as cylinder 38.

Alternatively, a plurality of conduits 41, 44 may attach to each respective fixed member, said plurality in each case being arranged to open at the bore of the fixed member in the same plane passing through the rotational axis and, once again, a plurality of pressure air supply conduits 45 and 46 may be provided to assist in delivering the desired volume of pressure air rapidly to the respective grooves. When a plurality of cylinders 38 are to be pulsed simultaneously, the pulse feeding ducts between the rotor and the different cylinders 38 are preferably of equal length.

Whilst the present invention has been described by way of example, with reference to specific embodiments many modifications and variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art and such modifications and variations as utilise pneumatic means for reciprocating a valve closure member in a container filling arrangement must lie within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (22)

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A method for charging flowable material into an open-top container comprising the steps of conveying an open-top container to a location beneath a flowable material discharge outlet closed by a valve closure member, operating first pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to an open position whereby to permit flowable material discharge through said discharge outlet into said container, operating second pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to a closure condition whereby to terminate the supply of flowable material through said discharge outlet and permitting flowable material discharge through by-pass adjacent said discharge outlet when the valve closure member is closing said discharge outlet.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 including the steps of displacing the container with uniform speed through said location and operating the first and second pneumatic means in time relationship to the displacement of the container through said location in such manner that the valve closure member is in its open condition to allow material discharge into the container only whilst the open mouth of the container is beneath the said discharge outlet.

3. A method for charging open-top containers with flowable material comprising the steps of successively conveying open-top containers beneath the discharge outlet of z constant volume reservoir of flowable material. said discharge outlet being normally closed by a valve closure member, operating first pneumatic means to displace the valve closure member from its closure condition to allow flow of the flowable material through said discharge outlet only when the leading edge of each container passes through and beyond the path of material discharge through said discharge outlet, operating second pneumatic means to displace said valve closure member to its closure condition to terminate the discharge of flowable material through said discharge outlet before the trailing edge of a container being filled passes into the path of material discharge from said discharge outlet and discharging flowable material from said constant volume reservoir through a by-pass outlet adjacent the discharge outlet whilst the valve closure member is in its closure position.

4. A method as claimed in Claim 3 including the step of recycling discharges through the by-pass to the constant volume reservoir.

5. A method as claimed in Claim 1. 2, 3, or 4 including the steps of conveying containers successively along a defined path and discharging flowable material into each container successively from each of a plurality of discharge outlets arranged above the said path.

6. A method as claimed in Claim 5 and including the step of relating the speed of each container beneath the said discharge outlet so that the sum total of material discharged into each container from said outlets comprises the desired contents for the container.

7. Apparatus for charging flowable material into open-top containers comprising a flowable material reservoir, a discharge outlet from said reservoir, a valve closure member displaceable between an open position, permitting flow of material through said discharge outlet, and a closed position preventing flow of material from said discharge outlet whilst permitting flow of material through a by-pass adjacent the discharge outlet, first pneumatic means for displacing said valve closure member from said closed position to said open position, second pneumatic means for displacing said valve closure member from said open position to said closed position, means for conveying open-top containers beneath said discharge outlet, and control means for actuating said first and second pneumatic means in timed relationship to the passage of containers beneath said discharge outlet whereby material is discharged from said discharge outlet only into said containers.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which said first and second pneumatic means each comprises an air supply conduit arranged to receive pneumatic pulses from a pressure air supply via a rotary valve.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 in which said air supply conduits are pulsed with pneumatic air from a common pressure air supply via a common rotary valve.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 in which said rotary valve comprises a fixed member with a bore therein, a rotor rotatable in said bore, connections to said air supply conduits opening at said bore in spaced apart relationship, and at least one connection to said commoapplied to said air supply conduits.

connection to said common pressure air supply opening at said bore, said rotor being adapted to connect said openings to said air supply conduits with an opening to said common pressure air supply during different parts of each revolution of the rotor and whereby pneumatic pulses are successively applied to said air supply conduits.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 in which said rotor comprises a rotor body with a groove of limited circumferential length in its peripheral surface, all said openings at said bore lie in the same plane as said groove and, during each rotation of the rotor, said groove connects the air supply conduit for the first pneumatic means with a first connecton to the common pressure air supply and the said groove connects the air supply conduit for the second pneumatic means to a second connection to the common pressure air supply.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 in which said rotor comprises two rotor bodies in axial alignment arranged for mutual rotation, one of said rotor bodies presents means for connecting said supply conduit of said first pneumatic means to said common pressure air supply and the other rotor body presents means for connecting said supply conduit of said second pneumatic means to said common air supply, said rotor bodies being angularly adjustable relative to one another whereby the dwell periods between pulses to said first and second pneumatic means are adjustable.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 in which said air supply conduit for said first pneumatic means receives pneumatic pulses via a first rotary valve, said air supply conduit for said second pneumatic means receives pneumatic pulses via a second rotary valve, said first and second rotary valves are linked for mutual displacement, and the rotors of said valves are angularly adjustable relative to one another whereby the dwell periods between pulses to said first and second pneumatic means are adjustable.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 7 to 13 inclusive in which the valve closure member is rigidly linked for mutual displacement with a double acting piston, said first pneumatic means deliver pneumatic pulses to one side of the piston and said second pneumatic means deliver pneumatic pulses to the other side of said piston.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 14 inclusive in which said control means includes means for preventing displacement of the valve closure member from its closed position, in response to a pneumatic pulse from said first pneumatic means, in the absence of a container beneath the discharge outlet.

16. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 15 in which said means for preventing displacement of the valve closure member comprises a piston and cylinder arrangement actuated by means for sensing a no-container condition beneath said discharge outlet and arranged, when actuated, to restrain the valve closure member against displacement from its closure condition with a greater force than that exerted by delivery of a pneumatic pulse by said first pneumatic means.

17. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 16 in which said flowable material reservoir includes a plurality of spaced apart discharge outlets each of which has a valve closure member displaceable between a closed position and an open position by actuation of first pneumatic means individual thereto and between an open position and a closed position by second pneumatic means individual thereto.

18. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 17 in which all said first pneumatic means receive pneumatic pulses from a common rotary valve and all said second pneumatic means receive pneumatic pulses from a common rotary valve.

19. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 17 or 18 in which said discharge outlets are arranged in a single row in the direction of container displacement, whereby each container passes successively beneath said discharge outlets, and said means for conveying the containers displace the containers at such a speed related to the discharge of material through said discharge outlets that each container receives part of its material contents from each discharge outlet.

20. Apparatus for charging flowable material into open-top containers comprising a constant volume reservoir, a plurality of spaced apart valve chambers in the lower regions of said reservoir, a discharge outlet from each valve chamber, a by-pass outlet from each valve chamber, a valve closure member individual to each valve chamber and displaceable between a closed position, wherein said valve closure member obstructs flow of material through said discharge outlet and allows material flow through said by-pass outlet, and an open position wherein said valve closure member permits material flow through said discharge outlet and obstructs material flow through said by-pass outlet, conveying means for conveying open top containers successively beneath each of said discharge outlets, first pneumatic means individual to each valve closure member for displacing the valve closure member from its closed to its open position only when the leading edge of the open top of a container has passed through the path of material discharge from the respective discharge outlet, and second pneumatic means individual to each valve closure member arranged to displace the valve closure member from its open to its closed position before the trailing edge of the open top of the container passes into the path of material discharge from said dis charge outlet.

21. A method for charging flowable material into open-top containers as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 and substantially as hereinbefore described.

22. Apparatus for charging flowable material into open-top containers substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the drawing accompanying the Provisional Specification.