Patent GB-205003-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in apparatus for filling bottles, tins or other receptacles
IPC: B67C3/16
Filed: 1923-01-31
Abstract: 205,003. Broadhurst, H. F. Nov. 18, 1922, [Convention date]. Bottling pulverulent materials.-In apparatus for filling bottles, tins, &c. with liquids or powders by difference of pressure, either above or below atmospheric, and having three separate connections, viz :-vacuum, suction, and breaker pipes leading to the interior of the bottle &c., a pin-hole vent is provided in the breaker pipe to effect the breaking of vacuum in the whole of the pipe at themoment liquid &c. touches the fillernozzle. The hollow filler head 1, Figs. 4 and 7, which is provided with a removable cover 15 and is carried by a hollow standard 16 mounted on a base plate 17, contains, a float 18 with a stem depending into the suction pipe 8, which extends down through the standard 16. Holes 20 for cleaning out the vacuum and breaker pipes 4, 5 are formed in the boss 21 at the top of the head 1 and are covered by a rubber pad 22 carried by a rotatable plate 23 secured by means of a screw 24. The interceptor 11 for trapping the liquid which is picked up by the vacuum pipe when the bottle is filled consists of a cylindrical glass vessel connected by pipes 30, 31 to a semi-rotary valve 14 and the vacuum pipe 4respectively, the outlet pipe 32 at the bottom being provided with an automatic valve 33 to return trapped liquid to the supply tank when vacuum is off. The cylinder has soft packing joints 34 top and bottom, and a spring 36, or screw or other means, presses the flanges 35 and packings 34 against the ends of the cylinder. The valve 14 comprises a movable member 25 provided with ports 26, 27, 28 to register with ports in a fixed member, the ports 26, 28 in the member 25 being connected to the vacuum pipe 4 and the ports 27 in both members to the breaker pipe 5. When the bottle is filled up to the end of the vacuum pipe 4, the liquid is picked up and discharged into the intercepter; and when vacuum is broken in the bottle by means of the breaker pipe 5, air rushing up the pipe 4 to break the vacuum in the intercepter 11 clears all liquid out of the pipe 4 and so prevents any dripping. A regulating or choker valve 10 of the needle-valve type is arranged in the pipe 31 to regulate the flow of air drawn from the bottle 6. The bottle is raised in order to insert the nozzle 3 into the bottle neck 9 bv means of a plunger 37, Fig. 21, working in a cylinder 12 and connected to a rod 38 which is vertically slidable in the table 17 and carries the bottle rest 39 at its upper end. On applying vacuum by way of the pipe 40, the plunger 37 and platform 39 rise; and on the vacuum being broken, the plunger, platform and bottle descend under their own weight. The pipe 40 is connected to a filter 13 consisting of a glass tube with plugged ends and filled with cotton wool which on discolouring indicates leakage. A pipe 41 connects the filter to the port 28 of the valve 14 and thence to the vacuum pipe 4. A pin-hole vent or permanent leak is provided in the pipe 5. Fig. 13 shows a head made of a straightthrough or stream-line form so that the whole of the liquid drains back from the nozzle 3 directly the pipe 4 as open to atmosphere, and is particularly applicable for filling powders and heavy liquids such as cream. The supply pipe 8 is connected to the end of the straight-through of the head and the removable cover 15 is provided with upstanding nipples which carry the vacuum and breaker tubes. The upper end of the nozzle 3 stands partly up the inside of the head 1, or the casting itself can be brought up in a sharp ridge 42 to provide a drainage or backward fall of liquid to the supply pipe 8. Fig. 20 shows an arrangement in which the head 1 is raised instead of the bottle, the hollow standard 16 carrying the head being slidable through the table 17 and connected at the lower end to the plunger 37 of the lifting cylinder 12. The supply pipe 8 dips into the tank 43, and the intercepter 11, choker valve 10, and control valve 14 are mounted on the table 17. The valve 10 is connected to the head 1 by by flexible pipes 4, 5. The upper end of the cylinder 12 is pivoted to a bar 44, which is pivoted at one end to the table 17 and at the other end to a screw 45 provided with an adjusting nut 46 for regulating the height of the cylinder.