GB2064669A

GB2064669A - Method and Apparatus for Filling Containers

Info

Publication number: GB2064669A
Application number: GB7942254A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-12-07
Filing date: 1979-12-07
Publication date: 1981-06-17

Abstract

Can-filling material is transferred from a hopper (10) via a U-tube (12) into a cylinder (26) by suction created by a piston (28) the bottom of the cylinder then being closed off and the latter repositioned above a waiting container (36), where the cylinder bottom is opened and the contents discharged by the piston. The cylinder is mounted on a rotatable plate (20) in line with an aperture (24). The plate (20) is located above a fixed plate (16) which includes an aperture (18) to align with the aperture (24) to allow filling of the cylinder. The plate (16) is cut away (or includes another aperture) at the point where discharge into a waiting container is to occur. A plurality of cylinders may be located on the rotatable plate. A plurality of hoppers may be located around the apparatus for feeding different materials into the cylinders in succession. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Method and Apparatus for Filling Containers Field of Invention This invention concerns methods and apparatus for filling cans and similar containers with liquid or combined liquid and solids such as foodstuffs.

Background to the Invention Many food products such as soups contain chunks of vegetable or meat suspended in a liquid. Known can-filling machines normally discharge such products into containers such as cans from above by squirting liquids and liquid solid suspensions into the cans through suitable discharge valves.

The metering of such discharge devices to ensure that exactly the right quantity of foodstuff or other material has been discharged into the can has always represented problems and often it has been necessary to leave a small space at the top of any can to prevent overfiow and spillage.

Where the product which is to be filled into a can is essentially a liquid or slurry such as soup or fruit juice or the like, the discharge valve can be of relatively small bore and difficulties due to blockage rarely arise in practice. Where, however, the material which is to be filled into a can has suspended in the liquid chunks of vegetable and the like, problems of blockage can and often do occur. The obvious solution is to increase the bore of the discharge device feeding such material into the cans but by doing this the volume of foodstuff or other material discharged per unit length of the discharge nozzle becomes considerable and difficulties can arise in the control of the flow of the material through such large bore nozzles.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alternative method and apparatus for filling cans or similar containers which does not suffer from the aforementioned disadvantages particularly when filling cans or other containers with suspensions of liquid and solid or semi-solid material such as chunks of vegetable or meat.

The Invention According to one aspect of the present invention a method of filling a container with a material such as a foodstuff comprises of the steps of 1. Filling a cavity with the material from below, 2. Closing the opening in the cavity, 3. Locating the cavity above a container and 4. Removing the closure and discharging the contents from the cavity into the container located therebelow.

According to a preferred feature of this aspect of the invention, the cavity is located on a rotatable member and is moved from a first feeding position into a discharge position conveniently located diametrically opposite the feeding position.

According to another preferred feature of the invention, the step of filling the cavity is effected by creating a depression within the cavity and sucking the material from a hopper into the cavity.

Preferably the depression is produced by means of a piston and cylinder arrangement and the piston is drawn through the cylinder in a direction to increase the volume of the cavity whilst the latter is in communication with a hopper containing the material so that the latter is sucked into the cavity.

Preferably the discharge of the material from the cavity is effected by opposite movement of a piston in a cylinder.

Conveniently the closing off of the cavity is effected automatically by moving the cavity relative to a fixed bed which is open only at the position at which the cavity is to be fed with the material and thereafter is only open over that section over which it is to be located above a can or other container and the contents from the cavity discharged thereinto.

According to another aspect of the present invention, apparatus for filling containers with material which can flow, comprises 1. A hopper containing the material, 2. A feeding station to which the material can be supplied from the hopper, 3. A cylinder movable over the feeding station to align with an outlet thereof, 4. A piston movable in the cylinder in a upward direction to draw material from the feeding station into the cylinder and movable in the opposite direction to discharge material from the cylinder.

5. Means for moving the cylinder from the feeding station to a discharge station and 6. Means located at the discharge station for moving the piston in a direction so as to discharge material from the cylinder into a container located at the discharge station.

Preferably the hopper communicates with the feeding station through a U-tube and a head of material is maintained in the hopper so that the material at the feeding station outlet is always at a slight positive pressure dependent on the head to facilitate the feeding of the material into a cylinder and to ensure that dirt etc cannot enter the discharge outlet.

Preferably the discharge outlet is an aperture in a fixed member and a second movable member is located thereabove for rotation about a vertical axis and the movable member includes an aperture which can align with the aperture in the fixed member so as to allow material to pass through the aligned apertures into a cylinder located on the movable member above the aperture therein.

Conveniently can means is provided adjacent the feeding station for engagement by an actuator which itself operates on the piston so that when the cylinder is located above the feeding station and the piston is drawn in an upward manner by a given distance so as to draw into the space below the piston in the cylinder a quantity of the material, the volume of which is determined by the diameter of the cylinder and the stroke of the piston. Conveniently cylinder but opposite acting can means or the like is provided at the discharge station so that the actuator is operated in the reverse direction to move the piston to discharge the material through the aperture in the movable member and from there into a waiting container.

Conveniently the fixed member extends around the underside of the movable and rotatable member to an arcuate extent sufficient to close off the underside of the cylindrical cavity until such time as the latter is required to discharge its contents into the waiting container.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, the rotatable member is circular and a plurality of cylinders and apertures are formed therein equally circularly spaced therearound so that each cylinder in turn is presented to the feeding station and subsequently after movement around the circular path is presented to the discharge station.

According to a preferred feature of the first aspect of the invention, the filling of the cavity may be effected in two or more steps, a different material being fed into the cavity at each of the steps until the required volume of different ingredients has been accumulated and thereafter the total volume of accumulated material is available for discharge at the discharge station.

According to a preferred feature of the second aspect of the invention, the apparatus may include two or more hoppers feeding an appropriate number of feeder stations around the circular path so that as each cylinder is moved over each feeding station, its associated piston is moved in an upward direction by an appropriate amount to draw into the cylindrical cavity the required volume of the appropriate ingredient from the hopper, the accumulated ingredients representing the final charge which can then be discharged at the discharge station in a single pass of the piston in the opposite direction.

The advantage of this preferred feature of the invention is that the ingredients do not have to be mixed until they are ready to be inserted into the can or container and for some processes this represents an important advantage.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the Drawings Figure 1 is a cross-section through one embodiment of the invention in which a number of the cylindrical intermediate containers are not shown for clarity, Figure 2 is a cross-section the line BB of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view of a multiple stage filling machine embodying the invention.

Detailed Description of Drawings Referring to Figure 1 and 2, a can-filling machine for inserting measured quantities of a foodstuff into separate cans comprises a hopper (10) into which the foodstuff or like material is poured or delivered and a U-tube (12) which connects the outlet of the hopper to the inlet of a feeding station generally designated 14. The feeding station comprises a fixed plate (16) having an aperture (18) therein which communicates with and represents an extension of the U-tube (12). Above the fixed plate (16) is a rotatable plate (20) which is mounted for rotation about an axis (22) and has formed therein an aperture (24) which can be aligned with the aperture (18) in the fixed plate (16).

Above the aperture (24) is located a cylindrical column (26) containing a smooth constant diameter hollow interior in which is slideably and sealingly arranged a piston (28) with an actuator (30) extending through the wall of the cylindrical column (26). Can means (32) located at the feeding station so as to operate the actuator means (30) to lift the piston (28).

In operation the move member (20) is rotated until the two apertures (18) and (24) are aligned.

At this time the piston (28) is arranged to be at the bottom of the cylindrical column (26) so that the bottom of the piston is in alignment with the underside of the rotatable plate (20).

Pausing at the feeding station (14), the can means (32) operates and lifts the actuator (30) and in turn the piston (28) thereby drawing into the space created by the lifting piston a volume of material from the column of material supplied by the hopper (10) in the U-tube (12) and aperture (18) in the fixed plate (16). The volume of material drawn into the cavity in the cylindrical column will be dictated by the diameter of the interior of the column (26) and also the stroke of the piston (28).

When the desired volume of material has been drawn into the column (26) by upward movement of the piston (28) the can means (32) stops and the plate (20) is now free to rotate carrying with it the column of material below the piston (28) in the cavity which has been created.

Although there will be little tendency for the material in the cavity below the piston (28) to drain out, any tendency for it to do so is prevented by arranging for the fixed plate (16) to extend around the circular path of the lower end of the aperture (24) which is followed by this aperture as the plate (20) rotates until the aperture (24) is above a part of the circular path during the contents of the cavity are to be discharged into a waiting container.

The discharge station generally designated 34 in Figure 1 of the drawings is shown diametrically opposite the feeding station (14) and at this discharge station the fixed plate (16) has terminated or at least an aperture is formed therein to correspond with the aperture (18) so that the column of material within the cavity below the piston (28) can now be discharged therethrough into a waiting container shown at 36. To this end a second can means (38) is located at the discharge station to engage the actuator (30) and cause the piston to be moved in a downward direction whilst the lower end of the column (26) is aligned with the awaiting can (36).

It will be appreciated that this particular procedure can be effected whilst the plate (20) is rotating if the can (36) is rotated with the plate (20) on its own support platform (shown at 40 in Figure 1) so that the movement is synchronised and the discharge from the cavity into the container 36 occurs whilst the two are aligned.

In one embodiment the actuator (30) comprises a can follower which is fixed rigidly to the side of the piston (2) and extends through a slot (not shown) in the wall of the cylindrical column (26). The follower (30) engages in a fixed can ring with the vertical position of piston (28) being determined by the can profile as the plate 20 rotates.

As indicated in the description of the figures, only two of the columns (26) are shown on the supporting plate (20). Normally a number of such columns would be located around the circular plate (20) as shown in figure 3 so as to allow for continuous operation.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that the upper end of the feed U-tube (12) where it communicates with the fixed plate (16) is shown flared. As shown in the scrap plan view Figure 2A the flared section is itself curved so as to define an arcuate opening (42) and by incorporating this flared outlet (44) and arcuate opening (42) in the fixed member (16), so the filling action can be performed "on the move". This is an important consideration in high speed operation since it means that the rotating plate (20) does not have to be continually arrested and then accelerated again. The can mechanism (32) an follower (30) is thus arranged to lift the piston (28) to the desired height in the cylindrical column (26) whilst the column 26 registers with the arcuate aperture (42).For convenience the direction of rotation of the column (26) is given by arrow (46) in Figure 2A and (48) in Figure 2.

The upward movement of the piston whilst the column (26) is in registry with the arcuate outlet (42) means that the material from the hopper (10) is drawn into the cylinder below the piston whilst the cylinder is moving in a circular direction and by appropriate timing and choice of can so the required movement of the piston (28) is effected during the traverse of the arcuate outlet (42).

Although not shown in detail, a low-friction sealing gasket (50) is situated between the two sliding faces of the fixed member (16) and rotating plate (20). The gasket not only seals the two plates and prevents material from extruding through the gap between the two plates but also facilitates the movement of the one plate relative to the other due to the low-friction characteristic of the material forming the gasket. The gasket is typically of the same shape in plan as the fixed member (1 6).

A second product can be fed into the cylindrical column (26) from a second hopper as shown in Figure 3. To this end the second hopper (52) is located beyond the angular position of the first hopper (10) adjacent a second arcuate slot (54) similar to slot (42) of Figure 2A and a second U-tube (56) communicates between the hopper (52) and the arcuate outlet (54). Movement of the plate (20) in the direction of the arrow (58) in Figure 3 means that the column (26) is first filled with material from hopper (10) through the slot (42) and thereafter as the Column 26 aligns with the arcuate slot (54), with continued upward movement of the piston (28) is filled with material from hopper (52).

It is to be noted that if material from hopper (52) is not required for any particular reason, it can be obviated by simply not causing the piston (28) to ride in the cylinder (26) as the cylinder (26) passes the appropriate hopper such as 52.

It will be seen that one main advantage of apparatus embodying the invention is that there are no restrictions such as valves and flowmetering devices in the passages feeding the material from the hopper (10) to the intermediate reservoirs formed by the pistons and cylinders (26) and (28) and the movement of the piston (28) in a downward direction to eject the material into an awaiting container is unimpeded and there is no restriction to the flow of the material which can thus contain large pieces of meat or vegetable and the like without any problem that the latter will cause jamming or blockage.

The fixed plate (18) is typically semi-circular in plan view so that open-topped cans can be fed under the rotating plate (20) just prior to the position where the sealing and stationary plate (18) terminates in the direction of rotation of the plate (20). By arranging that the cans are carried in a circular path directly below and synchronised with the ports in the rotating plate (20), so the product starts to discharge into the cans as soon as the latter are aligned with the ports. At this same position the can mechanism (38) begins to move the piston in a downward direction in the appropriate cylinder to eject the material into the waiting cans. Ejection of the material into the cans is completed in approximately one half the circumference of the rotatable member (20).

Diametrically opposite the start of the product discharge point, a "no can/no fill" device can be positioned (not shown) to regulate the position of the can follower according to whether cans are available for filling on a ensilling cycle. If a can is not available, the appropriate can follower is displaced axially by an air cylinder (not shown) into a secondary track. This action will prevent the corresponding piston rising at the point where the product would normally be sucked in to its cylinder so as to accommodate the missing can on the can conveyor.

The fixed member (18) is pressurised against the rotating plate (20) by means of air cylinders (not shown).

Claims

1. A method of filling a container with a material such as a foodstuff comprising the steps of (1) filling a cavity with the material from below, (2) closing the opening in the cavity, (3) locating the cavity above a container and (4) removing the closure and discharging the contents from the cavity into the container located therebelow.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 in which the cavity is located on a rotatable member and is moved from a feeding position into a discharge position with rotation of the rotatable member.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 2 in which the discharge position is located diametrically opposite the feeding position.

4. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the step of filling the cavity is effected by creating a depression within the cavity and sucking the material into the cavity.

5. A method as claimed in Claim 4 in which the depression is produced by means of a piston and cylinder arrangement and the piston is drawn through the cylinder in a direction to increase the volume of the cavity whilst the latter is in communication with a source of the material so that the latter is sucked into the cavity.

6. A method as claimed in Claim 5 in which the discharge of the material from the cavity is effected by opposite movement of the piston in the cylinder.

7. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the closing-off of the cavity is effected automatically by moving the cavity relative to a fixed bed which is open only at the position at which the cavity is to be fed with the material and at which the cavity is located above the container into which the contents of the cavity are to be discharged.

8. Apparatus for filling containers with material which can flow, comprising (1) a hopper containing the material, (2) a feeding station to which the material can be supplied from the hopper, (3) a cylinder movable over the feeding station to align with an outlet thereof, (4) a piston movable in the cylinder in an upward direction to draw material from the feeding station into the cylinder and movable in the opposite direction to discharge material from the cylinder.

(5) means for moving the cylinder from the feeding station to a discharge station and (6) means located at the discharge station for moving the piston in a direction so as to discharge material from the cylinder into a container located at the discharge station.

9. A method as claimed in any of Claims 9 to 1 4 in which the filling of the cavity is effected in two or more steps, a different material being fed into the cavity at each of the steps until the required volume of different ingredients has been accumulated in the cavity and the total volume of accumulated material is discharged at the discharge station.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 in which the hopper communicates with the feeding station through a U-tube.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 in which the feeding and discharge station outlets comprise apertures in a fixed member, and a movable member is located above the fixed member for rotation about a vertical axis, and the movable member includes an aperture which can be aligned in turn with the fixed apertures, the cylinder being located above the aperture in the fixed member, so that material can first pass into the cylinder located on the movable member above the feeding station aperture and thereafter.

the material can pass from the cylinder into a container through the discharge station aperture.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 or 11 in which cam means is provided adjacent the feeding station for engagement by an actuator which itself operates on the piston so that as the cylinder is moved over the feeding station the piston is drawn in an upward manner by a given distance so as to draw into the space below the piston in the cylinder a quantity of the material, the volume of which is determined by the diameter of the cylinder and the stroke of the piston.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12 in which similar but opposite acting cam means is provided at the discharge station so that as the cylinder is moved over the discharge station the actuator is operated in the reverse direction to move the piston to discharge the material through the aperture in the movable member.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 13 in which the fixed member extends around the underside of the movable and rotatable member to an arcuate extent sufficient to close off the underside of the cylindrical cavity until such time as the latter is required to discharge its contents into the waiting container.

1 5. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 1 4 in which the rotatable member is circular and a plurality of apertures are formed therein equally circularly spaced therearound and a cylinder is provided above each aperture so that with rotation each cylinder is presented in turn to the feeding station and subsequently, after movement around the circular path, to the discharge station.

1 6. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 1 5 in which there are two or more hoppers feeding an appropriate number of feeding stations located around a circular path so that as a cylinder is moved over each feeding station and its associated piston is moved in an upward direction by an appropriate amount, an appropriate volume of the contents of each hopper is drawn into the cylindrical cavity, the accumulated ingredients being discharged at the discharge station in a single pass of the piston in the opposite direction.

1 7. A method of filling a container substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

1 8. Apparatus for filling a container constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially, as herein described with reference to an as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.