Patent GB-190710649-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Machines for Bottling Liquids.
Inventor: JACOB FREDERICK WILLIAM
Filed: 1907-05-07
Granted: 1908-03-26
Abstract: 10,649. Jacob, F. W. May 7. Bottling.-Relates to a rotary bottling-machine, manually operated step by step, in which bottles are firmly held by their necks and automatically released on arrival at the point of removal, and in which each filling-head is provided with an automatic liquid valve and an air duct normally closed by a flexible valve adapted to be opened mechanically after each bottle is in position. When a bottle is in position for filling, it is forced against, or through, a flexible diaphragm 41 of the type described in Specification No. 127, A.D. 1905, which assumes a convex form, as shown on the left side of Fig. 2, and makes a tight joint with the bottle neck due to the gas pressure. The diaphragm may be in two or more layers, with holes increasing in diameter downwards to accommodate bottles with differentsized necks ; or an annular depending tongue, concentric with the hole in the diaphragm, may be provided to grip the neck of the bottle, and assist in holding the bottle rigidly in position. Below each diaphragm is a pivoted, spring-controlled flat plate 42, Figs. 2 and 9, with an elongated aperture 43, larger at one end than at the other. The bottle neck is passed through the larger end and held in the smaller when the plate is moved about its pivot. The plate is forced into operative position by a spring 45, and is freed to allow the bottle to be removed by passing over a fixed roller 47. A guide 48 keeps the plate horizontal and prevents jamming. The liquid supply cistern 1 is carried on a hollow standard 2 running on ball bearings, and is provided with a series of filling-nozzles 19, controlled by flexible valves 18, which open automatically when the gas pressure in the bottles equals that in the cistern. The valves 18 may be formed with solid centres surrounded by perforations to facilitate the flow of liquid when the valves are open. Connected with the filling-nozzles are air ducts 12, connected at their upper ends to a gallery 11. The apertures in the gallery are normally closed by L-shaped flexible valves 13 adapted to be opened, during the rotation of the machine, by coming into contact with a fixed trigger 16. The gallery 11 is carried by a cylinder 9 provided with liquid openings 10, and surrounding a perforated extension 8 of the fixed feed pipe 6. The trigger 16 is secured to the extension 8. A flexible packing 20 of rubber or the like, coned upwards towards its centre, and forced downwards by gas and liquid pressure, forms a liquid-tight joint and allows free rotation of the cistern. The step-by-step movement of the revolving cistern is obtained by means of a ratchetwheel 22, Figs. 2 and 5, having as many teeth as there are filling-nozzles. The ratchet-wheel is operated by a pawl forming one arm of a bell-crank lever 24 carried between two loose disks 23. The bell-crank is actuated by treadle mechanism through a chain 27, and is returned to its normal position by a spring 31. Stops 34, 35 limit the movements of the pawl and liquor-tank respectively. The cistern may be provided with a float adapted to operate an air valve; or an air valve may be placed in a cylinder formed in the central portion of the cistern cover 1 and provided with an elongated stem adapted to be engaged by a float in the extension 8 of the feed pipe. The air ducts and flexible valves may be arranged immediately above the fillers, the trigger being made radially long enough to operate them.