US2643807A - Container filling machine - Google Patents

Description

June 1953 J. GIALANELLA CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1952 INVENTORA Jase 4% fi/ahnzl/a BY Z C, I

June 3 1953 J. GIALANELLA CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27, 1952 "II... v.

INVENTOR. Jase 4k (fiahaella FTTdR/VEY Patented June 30, 1953 CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Joseph Gialanella, Newark, N. J assignor of onehalf to Gennaro De Rogatis,v Orange, N. J.

Application February 27, 1952, Serial No. 273,653

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to container filling machines, and, more particularly, to machines for filling containers with liquids, which have a tendency to froth or foam when agitated.

The present invention is primarily concerned with improving machines of the type disclosed'in United States Letters Patent No. 2,347,858, dated May 2, 1944, and issued to W. H. Weeden. Such machines generally comprise a liquid supply tank; a horizontal header above the supply tank; a plurality of filling heads having an-inlet in communication with the tank, an outlet in communication with the header and nozzle means for communicating with the opening of a container to be filled; a pair of chambers each having its lower end in direct connection with an end of the header and'each having an outlet in communication with the tank; and means for alternately vacuumizing the chambers and connecting them'to the atmosphere, including a check valve at each end of the header and a control valve.

In the operation of such machines, containers are positioned against the nozzle means and the control valve is positioned to exhaust one of the chambers while connecting the other chamber to the atmosphere, whereby the header and the containers in connection with the filling heads are vaouumized to cause liquid to be sucked into the containers from the tank while the check valve at the end of the header connected with the other chamber prevents communication between that chamber and the header. When the containers have been filled, they are disconnected from the nozzle means, thereby breaking the vacuum and stopping flow of the liquid to the containers and nozzle means. The liquid in the filling heads is then drawn into the header, where it passes through the open check valve, at the end of the header opposite at which the check valve has een closed, and enters the chamber with considerable force and velocity, causing splashing and foaming. Another batch of containers is then positioned against the nozzle means and the filling cycle is repeated, but this time the other chamber is vacuumized while the first vacuumized chamber is connected with the atmosphere to permit foam and froth to settle and to return the same together with liquid to the tank.

While many attempts have been made to reduce foaming, promote settling of the foam and to prevent such foam from getting into the vacuum pump, machines in use at present are stillsubject to these difiiculties and disadvan-i tages. -It will be appreciated that foam ng ill-- creases the time of the filling cycle because of the time required for the foam to settle, whereby the machines cannot be operated at a speed approaching their maximum filling capacity unless foaming is practically eliminated. Also, any foam or liquid which gets into the pump, regardless how small the amount for each filling cycle, eventually necessitates frequent shutdowns of the machines to enable cleaning of the pump.

I Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide machines of the foregoing character whereinfoaming is greatly minimized and practically eliminated.

Another object is to provide such machines wherein foam is positively prevented from entering the vacuum pump and frequent shutdowns for cleaning the pump are avoided.

Another object is to provide such machines wherein liquid is practically prevented from entering the chambers while vacuumized and any liquid tending to enter the" same is rapidly drained therefrom upon connection of the charn bers with the atmosphere.

Another object is to provide such machines wherein special provision is made to prevent foaming in the header;

Another object is to provide such machines whereinthe filling capacity is greatly increased by reducing'the duration of the filling cycle.

Another object is to provide such machines wherein the capacity thereof may be enlarged by making provision for filling a greater number of containers during each cycle without otherwise altering the machine.

A further object is to provide the foregoing improvements in a manner enablingthe same to be incorporated in newly built machines or em-' bodied in existin machines.

A still further object is to accomplish the foregoing in a simple, convenient-practical and economical manner.

Other and further objects will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not resmaller bore than the header, whereby the tendency for such large quantities of liquid to return into the chamber is eliminated. Other features of the machine are that a check valve is provided in the liquid return pipe above the liquid .level of the tank, and that foaming in the hea'der'is minimized by directing the liquid withdrawn from the filling heads along the'longitudinal axis of the header in a manner to prevent forceful contact with the walls of .the header.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a schematic elevational view, partly in section, illustrating-a container filling machine in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 1a is a fragmentary view similar to @Fig. 1 in which the vacuum chamber has been eliminated.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a modified machine.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the connection between the filling head and the header of the machines'shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is aschematic view of another modified machine.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the connections between the filling heads and the header of the machine shown in Fig. 4.

Fig.6 is a schematic 'view ofanothermodified machine.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of still another modified machine. 7

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the connections between the filling heads and the headersof the machine shown in Fig. '7.

Referring to the drawings inidetail and, more particularly to Fig. .1 thereof; there is :shown a container filling machine of the type previously mentioned herein. 'Generallydescribed, this machine comprises aliquidsupply tankrlfl, a-header ll, filling'headsfl (of which-.only one iSIEShOWIl), a vacuum chamber M adjacent each :end of the header, a vacuum pump 15, and connections and valving, the construction .and arrangement of which will be made apparent hereinafter.

The tank 19 is of the usual construction .having a drain'pipe [6 "connected theretorin which a normally closed valve sfliis connected.

The headeris positioned substantially horizontally and is located above the tank, as is customary. I

The filling head I2 is of the conventional design used in connection with machines of the type to which the present inventionrelates, and hence need not be illustrated or described in detail. The filling head generally comprises nozzle means 18 for communicating with the opening of the container 19 .to be filled, vacuum production in the system for establishing flow through the nozzle only when the container is positioned in engagement therewith, an inlet having conduit means 20 connected thereto for supplying liquid from the tank and being pro vided with a check valve 2| at about the liquid 4 level of the tank, and an outlet connected to the header I l by a flexible tube 22.

The vacuum chambers 14 extend upwardly above the header H but have their bottoms slightly below the header, and are each provided with an upwardly extending pipe 24 terminating adjacent the upper end of the chambers and formed with an opening surrounded by a shield 25. The pipes 24 extend to .a valve 26 connected by a pipe 21 to the vacuum pump and are constructed and arranged for alternately connecting the pipes to the vacuum pump and the atmos- .phere.

Contrary to the usual custom of directly con- .necting the .endsof the header to the chambers,

each iendsof the header has pipe means connected thereto which include an elbow 30 attached to the end of the header, a section 3| extendin downwardly and into the tank It) having a check valve 32 connected therein above the tank for preventing liquid to be sucked upwardly .into the pipemeans .and .a by-passor drain .tube 34 connecting the lower end of the chamber .and the section .3] .at a point below the bottom of the chamber.

.The elbows 310 have .a passage of a cross-sectional area slightly greater than that of the header and have a gradually downwardly curved wall facing the ends of the header to direct liquidfrom the headerrdownwardly into the .section'3'l with a minimum of agitation. As shown herein, the ends of the header are set in the elbows'30 and have a flap-type check valve 35 operable by changes in pressure, as will be describedhereinafter. The section-31 has a smaller bore than the header and is adapted to conduct liquid from the elbow by gravity flow to the tank. The tube 34 has amuch smaller bore than the header and a somewhat smaller bore than the section 3], and is so dimensioned as to efiectively vacuumize the header and to drain any liquid that may enter chamber l4.

As seen in Fig. 2, the header II and elbow 30 may be adjacent and outside of the chamber M in order to simplify construction of such a machine; and, of course, in this latter instance the joint therebetween will be vacuumtight.

In operating the machine just described the container 19 is positioned against the nozzle l8 as shown, and the control valve 26 is positioned, also as shown, whereby air will be pumped out of the chamber 14 at the left to produce a vacuum therein. As this chamber is evacuated, air is also pumped out of the header by causing the flap valve 35 at the left to open andthe flap valve at the right to close. The pipe section 3! is also evacuated due to closing of the check valve '32. p The air 'is'also pumped from the container 19 to produce a vacuum, the path of the air removed from the system being from .the container to the filling head [2, to the hea'der H, to 'the elbow 30, to the section 3!, to the tube 34, to the chamber [4, tothe opening of thepipe 2'4, and to the pump [-5, via open valve 26. As the container is vacuumized, the filling headis rendered effective to connect its inlet with the nozzle l8 and liquid is ,drawn into the container by way of the supply pipe 20.

When the container has been .filled, .it .is removed, thereby breaking the vacuum and causing the .ball valve 21 .to close. A small amount of liquid in the pipe -20 .is returned by gravity flow .to the tank l0 and excess liquid trappedin the. filling head 12 .is-drawn into the header H .and into .the elbow 30 at the left.

Practically all of this liquid descends into the pipe section 3| and. only a very small portion thereof, if any at all, enters the tube 34 to be drawn into the vacuum chamber IA. The amount of liquid that may actually enter the \chamberis so small,that none of the samereaches the opening of the pipe 24 adjacent the shield 25, whereby entrance of such liquid into the vacuum pump I5 is efiectively prevented.

Upon rotating the valve 26, the chamber It at the right is vacuumized, as described in connection with the chamber at the left, thereby causing the valve at the left to be closed to vacuumize the system including the containers, and the chamber at the left is connected to the atmosphere via opening 26' on valve 26 to allow liquid in this chamber, its by-pass tube 34 and its pipe section 3| to return by gravity past the check valve 32 into the tank II].

The cycle may thereafter be repeated to alternately vacuumize the chambers and condition them for permitting such froth, if formed, to settle and for liquid to return to the tank.

In Fig. 2, a modified machine is partially illustrated, which machine is essentially the same as the machine shown in Fig. 1, except that the vacuum chambers have a much smaller volume and are comparatively short and that the valves 35 may be eliminated. By reason of the indirect connection between the header and the vacuum chambers, so little liquid or froth enters these chambers that they need not be of great height to prevent rising froth from entering the pipes 24.

In Fig. 2 also, the header II may be adjacent to chamber I I instead of passing through it. (In fact, chamber I 4 and pipe 34 may be eliminated by connecting the vacuum via pipe 24 directly to the elbow 30, as seen in Fig. 1a; but the flap valves 35 must be then included in the header I I).

In 3, a preferred arrangement is illustrated for connecting the conduit 22 to the header II wherein a tube ll) extends horizontally into the header and has a section M formed with an outlet 42 at the end thereof facing in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the header and disposed therein. It has been found that this arrangement further reduces foaming or frothing because liquid entering the header is not directed perpendicularly against the inner wall thereof in a manner which would cause splashing but is directed lengthwise .along the header and has an opportunity to settle as it flows towards the elbows 30 at the ends of the header.

In Fig. 4, a machine in accordance with the invention is illustrated schematically, which is essentially like the machine shown in Fig. 2, but has a plurality of filling heads I2 connected to the header. A preferred manner of connecting the conduits 22 of this machine to the header is shown in Fig. 5, wherein the sections II of the tubes at the left and right of the header respectively face left and right to balance the flow of fluid in the header.

Another modification of the present invention is shown schematically in Fig. 6, wherein an auxiliary header or filler tube is connected to the main header II by a pair of pipes 5i and to the supply tank II) by a pipe 52; while filling heads I2 are connected to the tank I ll by pipes 20 and to the header 50 by conduits 22. This arrangement illustrates how the capacity of an existing machine may be enlarged,

6 simply by providing a second'header to which an additional bank of filling heads can be connected. This is made possible by the effective and rapid operation of machines embodying the present invention, whereby with a vacuum pump of a given size a greater number of containers can be filled simultaneously.

In Fig. 7,'still another modified machine is shown schematically, wherein an anti-foam tube 6! is connected by a pair of pipes 6! to the header II and has a pipe 62 leading therefrom to the tank It. Thetube 6!) is parallel to and preferably in the same horizontal plane as header II and serves to collect a predetermined amount of the total excess liquid and returns thesame to the tank without all of the liquid passing through the header ends shown in Fig. 1. This arrangement thereby reduces the amount of liquid or froth which possibly could enter the vacuum chambers and even more reliably assures that no liquid will get into the vacuum pump. The arrangement primarily redues the velocity of the liquid being returned to the supply tank by distributing the liquid between the header and tube 60. Since foaming is a function of liquid velocity, it is practically eliminated. This arrangement also increases the amount of liquid that can be handled and returned per filling cycle to the supply tank and,

' velocity of liquid being returned would be approximately one-fourth of that if all the liquid were returned to the single header, as is th case in existing machines.

If desired, one filling head (or more) may be connected to the header I! and one filling head (or more) may be connected to the anti-foam tube SQ, so that the tube acts as a trap for the header. A preferred arrangement for connecting the conduits 22 with the header I I and tube 69 is illustrated in Fig. 8, this arrangement being essentially in accordance with that described in connection with Figs. 3 and 5.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a simple, practical and economical filling machine which embodies improvements to reduce frothing and foaming and their attendant disadvantages and to increase the capacity of the mav chine. These improvements can be readily applied to newly constructed or existing machines to attain the benefits of the present invention.

In general this invention reduces foaming by (a) reducing the velocity of the liquid being returned, (22) streamlining the liquid flow by Loreventing splashing and striking any surface at right angles. This invention increases production by (a) elimination of foam, (2)) elimination of shut down due to liquid getting into the vacuum pump, (0) shorter operating cycles, and (d) greater capacity for handling the liquid.

As various arrangements may be made in the form, construction and arrangements of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

In a container filling machine of the class described, the combination of a liquid supply tank; a *substantially -horizontal header above said tank; a: filling. heaidiha-vingan inlet,:an outlet and means for-communicatingwith'the 'opening Of-"a container tobefilled; conduit means for supplying-liquid from saidatank to saidinlet; a flow communicating a-connection between said outlet and said header; fpipe:means connected to said header includingavdownwardly extending section in communication with said tank; a chamber above said supply tank havingits. upper end above csaid header; vacuum. producing means; means for establishing communication between :saidvacuinn producing means=andithe upper-:end of saidrchamber; and a tube connecting-theilower end-of saidzcham-ber. and said pipe means section atsaipointbelow'the:bottom--ofssaid chamber.

2. A filling machine according to claim 1, wherein said conduit meansis :provided with a check valve for preventing return of liquid to said supply tank.

3. A filling "machine :according "to "claim '1, wherein said: pipe means section is: provided with a check valve at a point above theliquid level of said supply :tank. ior'preventing :the'fiow' of :liquid from saidtank to said tube.

4. A filling machine according *to claim '1, wherein a-check valveisprovided 'forpreventing communication between-said header and said tube.

5. A filling .machine according to claim 1, whereinsaid pipe means includes an elbow connecting said header and said downwardly extending section.

--6. A filling machine according to claim 5, wherein'the end of-said elbow .connected tosaid header corresponds in diameter to said header, the end of said elbow connectedto said section corresponds'in diameter'tosaid section, and said section has a smaller diameter "than said header.

7. A filling machine according to claim 6, wherein said tube has a smaller diameter than said section.

SVA filling machine according 'to claim 1, wherein said flow communicating connection between said filling head-outlet andsaid header includes a tubular section extending horizontally into said header and outlet means for said tubular section facing in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said header.

9.'A filling -machine according to claim 8, Wherein'said outlet means includes a tubular section formed with an outlet at the end thereof and disposed in alignment with the longitudinal axis of said header.

10. in a container filling-machine of the class described, the combination of a liquid supply tank; a substantially horizontal header above said tank; a filling-head having an inlet, azoutletand means for communicatingwith the opening-of a containertobefilled; conduit means .for

8 supplying liquid from said supply. tank to said inlet a flow communicating connection between said *outlet and said header; -'pipe. means connected to each-end of said header including a downwardly extending section in communication with said supply tank; a chamberadjacent each :end 1 of 1 said header each positioned above said tank and'ea-ch having its upper end above said header; vacuum producing means; means for selectively establishing communication between the upper ends of .said respective chamber andsaid vacuum producing means and alternatively connecting said chambers to the atmosphere; and a tubeconnecting thelower end of each of said chambers and itssaid pipe means section at a point .below the bottom of said chamber.

'11. Afilling machine according to claim 10, wherein saidconduit means is provided with .a check valve for preventing returnof liquid to said supplytank, each of said pipe means sectionsis provided .with acheckvalve at a point between the liquid levelofsaid tank and its said .tube, and acheck valve is provided-between each end ofsaid. headerand the point at whichsaid tube is connected to its pipe means section for preventing communication between one end of said header and said chamber adjacent thereto while said other chamber isin connection with said vacuum producingmeans.

.12. A.filling machine according to claim 10, wherein. each otsaidpipe means includes an-elbow connectingthe respective ends of saidheader and its downwardly extending section.

.13. -A.filling .machine according .to claim 10, wherein aplurality of said filling heads are provided andsaidflow communicating connection between. each: of. saidfilling. head outlets and said header: includes atubular section extendinghorizontally into saidheader and outlet means for said tubular section facing in the direction of the longitudinal .axis of said .head and theend o'fsaid head nearest thereto.

14..A.filling..machine according .to claim .10, wherein a pair ofv said fillingheads are provided, an anxiliarysubstantially horizontally disposed header in flow connection with .said first mentioned .header -is positioned above said supply tank, said outlet of one'of said filling headsbeing in connection with said first mentioned header,.and.said outlet of said other filling head being iniconneetion withsaid auxiliary header.

15. A filling machine according to claim 14, wherein .said auxiliary header is positioned between said .firstmentioned header and said supply tank, and a conduit connected to said auxiliaryheader. is .incommunication with said supply tank.

JOSEPH GIALANELLA.

No references cited.

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