GB974591A - Improvements in automatic rotary machines for filling bottles and other vessels - Google Patents

Abstract

974,591. Bottling. VICKERS-ARMSTRONGS (ENGINEERS) Ltd. Jan. 22, 1964 [Jan. 24, 1963], No. 3087/63. Heading B8T. A rotary counter-pressure filling machine with a number of filling heads disposed around an axis of rotation, has each head comprised by a valve body 3 within an annular pressurized liquid tank 4 concentric to said axis, the valve body having fluid passages 6, 7, 8 extending therethrough and controlled by separate valves 13, 20 operated in timed relationship against spring influence by a drum cam 27. The latter is rotatably mounted on top of the body and is turned by a spring-influenced lever system 30, 33, 34 pivotally mounted in the wall of the liquid tank and actuated by a circular cam track surrounding the machine. Liquid flows from the tank into the passage 6 through ports 9 and passes into the vessel, e.g. bottle, to be filled via a poppet valve 13 urged closed by a spring 18 and opened by a plunger 16 actuated by a track on the drum cam. Counter-pressure gas from the tank is fed to the bottle through passage 8, and return liquid and gas from the bottle flows through passage 7 to the tank. The valves 20 are spring urged closed and are moved axially via valve rods 21, 21c actuated by pivoted levers 31 engaging two further cam tracks on the drum cam. The latter is rocked by a lever 30 engaging a notched plate 29 fixed to the cam spindle, and the other end of the lever is connected to the elbow of a bell crank lever 33, Fig. 7, normally urged by a spring 37 to the position in which the liquid and return valves are opened and the counter-pressure valve closed. At the end of the filling period a roller 34 of the bell crank lever engages the surrounding cam track to turn the drum cam to momentarily lift and close the counter-pressure valve and allow the liquid and return valves to close. The filled bottle is then withdrawn, a fresh empty bottle applied over the filling tube, and the bell crank lever is moved by the cam track to effect a counter-pressure filling operation. Ball valves 10 and 26 close the liquid flow to the passage 6 and the gas and liquid return passage 7 respectively, if a bottle should break. Should a filling head not receive an empty bottle an electric switch is automatically operated by the appropriate bottle platform whereby a solenoid is energized to push a plunger 42, extending through the roller 34, inwardly to engage an abutment 36 and thereby to hold the bell crank lever in a position where the filler head valves remain closed.