GB646470A - Improvements in or relating to valves for filling containers with liquids from a reservoir - Google Patents

Abstract

646,470. Bottling. CHERRY-BURRELL CORPORATION. Jan. 22, 1948, No. 1983. Convention date, May 4, 1942. [Class 125 (ii) ] A valve for filling containers, e.g. milk bottles, from a reservoir 10 comprises a vent tube 13 formed at the bottom with a valve-element 14 and supported centrally in an opening 11 by a spider 12 which is positioned by engagement with the sloping walls of the opening, a resilient bulb 33 which is interposed between the bottom of the reservoir and a member 27 having a sleeve 26 which is the movable element of the valve, and a resilient gasket 38 which fits over the sleeve 26 and seals the container as it is filled. Drip edges 37, 39 for condensate are provided on the bulb 33 and gasket 38, and the member 27 is provided with a drip collecting gutter 28 leading to a spout 29. Condensate is excluded from the interior of the bulb by a sealing rib 36. The spider 12 is U-shaped in plan and is made of springy material to clip on to the tube 13 which is held against downward movement by a flange 17 which bears on the top of the spider. In a modification, the spider has a central hub through which the tube 13 passes, a sleeve being interposed between the tube and the hub so that a shoulder on the sleeve bears on the hub to prevent upward movement of the tube, and a spring clip, which engages a groove in the sleeve, bears on the top of the hub and prevents downward movement of the tubes. The walls of the opening 11 and an upward extension of the sleeve 26 may be of curved contour to receive correspondingly rounded upper and lower ends of the bulb 33, a rolling contact between the ends of the bulb and the supporting surfaces being thus obtained when the bulb is compressed axially. The gutter 28 may be formed separately from, and attached to, the sleeve 26. The sleeve 26 may carry upstanding pins arranged in a circle so as to bear against the walls of the opening 11 and prevent transverse movement of the valve parts, and the bulb may have an annular gutter surrounding it to prevent condensate from entering the bottle as it is moved into and away from the filling position. When the bulb is compressed axially, the deformation of the gutter makes the outer edge thereof snap downwardly to discharge the condensate.