Improvements in Bottle-filling Machines.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1895-Accepte1, 18th May,
1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle-filling Machines.
We, AUGUST GRAP, Painter, and JACOB ZIMMERLI, Machinist, both of
308 Hamburg Avenue, Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of New
York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
The bottling machines heretofore devised were well adapted for the purpose of
bottling still liquors, but, owing to the formation of foam, they were not as well
adapted for bottling malt-liquors, as by the foam the regular working of the
apparatus was impaired. Many efforts were made to provide an apparatus by
which beer, ale and the like, could be bottled without the formation of foam, but
without success.
This invention is designed to furnish an improved bottle-filling apparatus, by
which the contents of a keg or barrel containing malt-liquor can be readily drawn
off into bottles, without interference' by the foam formed in bottling; and the
invention consists of a bottle-filling apparatus, which comprises two receivers, one
located above the other, the upper receiver being connected with a keg or other
receptacle which contains the liquor to be bottled, while the lower receiver is
provided with a number of siphon-tubes, to which the bottles to be filled are
applied. The upper receiver is provided with a float-valve, that is closed when
the liquid in the same rises to a fixed level. The lower receiver is also
provided with an automatically-operated float-valve, by which the supply of
liquid from the first receiver is automatically established or interrupted, and the
quantity of liquid filled into the bottles controlled. The bottles are applied to
spring-actuated stoppers on the siphon-tubes, which stoppers are connected by
flexible pipes with a vent tube on the upper receiver so that the air in the bottles
is transmitted, as the filling proceeds, to the rent-tube on the upper receiver.
A gas-supply cylinder is arranged between the upper and lower receivers, and
connected with a source of supply of carbonic acid gas under pressure, said
cylinder being likewise connected by valved nipples and suitable pipes with the
bungs of the kegs or barrels so that the supply of carbonic acid to each keg or
barrel can be turned on or cut off, as required. The gas-supply cylinder is also
connected by a valved pipe with the lower receiver, so as to permit the ready
starting of the bottling operation, said connecting-pipe being shut off when the
pressure on the liquid in the upper receiver is sufficient for continuing the bottling
operation.
The invention consists further of certain details of construction, by which the
effective working of the apparatus is secured, which details will be fully described
hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my improved bottle-filling machine,
showing its connection with the kegs, the contents of which are to be bottled, and
with a source of supply of carbonic acid gas under pressure,
Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section through the upper and lower receivers of
the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the upper receiver, drawn on
a larger scale than in Figure 1.

page_text: Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section through the lower receiver also on a
larger scale,
Figures 5 and 6 are respectively a vertical longitudinal section of the carbonic
acid supplying-cylinder, and a vertical transverse section of the same, the latter
figure showing its connection with the lower receiver, and
Figure 6 is a detail of Figure 6.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Referring to the drawings, B and C are the two closed receivers, which are
made of cylindrical, oval or other cross-section, and preferably constructed of
copper, galvanized sheet-iron or other suitable material. The heads B', C¹ are
riveted to the flanged bodies of the receivers B C, and tightly connected with the
same by suitable packing rings. Both receivers B, C, are mounted on a supporting-
frame A, the receiver B being supported at a greater elevation than the receiver C.
Each head B' of the upper receiver is connected by a Y-pipe b, having a stop-cock
in each branch of the Y-pipe, with the kegs or other receptacles, the contents of
which are to be bottled. An inclined conducting tube B2 leads from the head of
the upper receiver B to the lower receiver C, said tube being provided with a stop-
cock (see Figure 1) so as to turn on or close the communication with the upper
receiver B. The upper receiver B is provided intermediately between the inlet-
pipe b and the outlet pipe B2 with a suitable strainer S that serves for collecting
the foam which is formed in the receiver B, so as to prevent the same from passing
to the lower receiver C. A float-valve g is guided in a suitable cage g¹ in the
upper part of the upper receiver B, said float-valve serving to close an outlet-
pipe g that is connected with a tube G which communicates with the atmosphere.
When a sufficient quantity of liquid is supplied to the receiver B so that the
float-valve g of the same is raised for closing the outlet-tube 92 the air or carbonic
acid gas which has accumulated in the upper part of said receiver cannot pass off
to the atmosphere, but when the level of the liquid falls, the valve is opened so
that the gas can escape to the outside. The Y-shaped supply-pipes are each
provided at the inside of the receiver B with a valve which is operated by a
float so that the supply of liquid thereto is automatically interrupted until a
sufficient quantity is drawn from the same into the lower receiver C, whereby the
float-valve f is lowered and the supply-tube opened so that a new quantity of
liquid is supplied and so on alternately. The supply-pipes are extended by
pipes b* below the valve in the receiver B and are terminated near the strainer S,
so as to discharge the liquid with as little foaming as possible.
The lower receiver C is provided with a number of siphon-tubes C', which are
connected in an air-tight manner thereto, said siphon-tubes having a certain play
at their point of connection with the lower receiver C. The lower ends of the
inner legs of the siphon-tubes C' are curved or bevilled off so as to form contact
with a small plate or strip of rubber h, which is applied to the bottom of the
receiver C, said plate or strip serving for the purpose of closing the lower ends of
the inner legs of the siphon-tubes when no bottle is applied to the outer legs of the
same. The outer legs of the siphon-tubes Care connected by helical springs
with a fixed horizontal bar arranged longitudinally on the upper receiver B, and
are provided with sliding and spring-actuated stoppers 9 which are arranged on
said legs and are adapted to close the bottles to be filled, when they are placed
over said exterior legs. By inserting the exterior legs of the siphon-tubes into the
bottles, the spring actuated stoppers 9 are pushed back against the tension of
their springs 10 until the bottom of the bottles can be placed against a horizontal
supporting bar e', which is arranged at the front-part of the receiver C, as shown
in Figures 1 and 2, and supported on inclined and slotted side-rods E attached to
the lower receiver. The bar el is adjusted in the slots e of the side-rods E by
clamping nuts e² so as to regulate thereby the height of the liquid in the bottles
and provide for different sizes of bottles. The connection of the siphon-tubes C¹
with the receiver C is made in any suitable manner provided that a hermetically
closing and yielding connection is obtained. The siphon-tubes C are thereby free

page_text: to oscillate on the receiver, so that their lower inner ends may be applied to or
removed from the elastic plate at the bottom of said receiver. When a bottle
is placed on the exterior leg of a siphon-tube C¹, the weight of the bottle over-
comes the tension of its spring and causes the oscillating of the siphon-tube, so
that the inner end of the siphon-tube is moved away from the elastic plate h, as
shown in Figure 2. The liquid passes through the siphon-tube into the bottle
until it is on a level with that in the receiver C, when the supply to the bottle is
interrupted. The bottle is then removed to be closed. As soon as the filled bottle
is removed from the bottle-rest or supporting-bar e', the outer leg of the siphon-
tube is raised by its spring, and the inner leg pressed against the elastic plate h, so
that the siphon-action is thereby interrupted.
The lower receiver C, is provided at the inner end of the supply-tube B* with
a float-governed valve v. As the liquid is supplied from the upper receiver B to
the lower receiver C, it gradually lifts the float of the valve and closes said valve.
As soon as any part of the liquid in the receiver C is drawn off by the siphon-
tubes, the level of the liquid in the same falls and the supply-valve is automatically
opened, so that a supply of liquid from the upper receiver is re-established. When,
by the quick removal of the bottles from the siphon-tubes, the quantity of liquid
withdrawn from the receiver C is equal to that supplied to the same from the
upper receiver B, the level of the liquid remains at the required point, so that
An
the liquid is continuously supplied without the closing of the valve v.
experienced bottler can connect the bottles with the siphon-tubes and remove the
filled bottles successively at such a speed that hardly any interruption in the supply
of liquid to the receiver C takes place.
The stopper 9 on each siphon-tube E, which closes the mouth of the bottle
while the filling action takes place, is connected by a small vent-pipe 3 with the
outlet-tube G on the upper receiver B, so that the air in the bottles is conducted
through the vent-pipes and the outlet-tube G directly to the atmosphere. Below
the bottles is arranged a drip-pan D in which any drip from the bottles is collected,
though by properly handling the bottles in removing the full ones and putting on
the empty ones, hardly any drip and waste is incurred.
Between the upper and lower re: eivers B and C is arranged a transverse gas-
supply cylinder F, which is connected at one end by a flexible pipe F with a
source of carbonic acid gas under pressure. The source of carbonic acid gas may
be any suitable generator provided with: an intermediate pressure-reducing cylinder,
or a cylinder containing liquid carbonic acid gas and having a suitable pressure-
reducing valve, or any other known means for supplying carbonic acid gas under
pressure may be employed. On the gas-supply cylinder F are arranged as many
valved nipples ff, as kegs or barrels are to be connected with the bottle-filling
machine, so that several kegs can be connected at any time with the machine for
keeping up the proper and uninterrupted working of the same. The nipples ff
are connected by flexible pipes, ff, with the bungs of the kegs. As soon
as a keg or barrel is emptied, which is readily seen by means of a feed-sight,
composed of a small piece of glass pipe p, which is arranged in each of the flexible
supply pipes 1, 2, 3, 6, the stop-cock of the nipple by which the connection of
the gas-supply cylinder F with the empty keg is made, is shut off, and thereby the
further supply of gas to the same is interrupted. The gas-supply cylinder F is
arranged, for the sake of convenience, above the lower tank, so as to be within
easy reach of the operator and enable him to shut off the connection of the
cylinder F with any keg after it is emptied. The gas-supply cylinder F is also
connected by means of a goose-neck pipe f with the top of the lower receiver C,
so as to supply gas directly to the liquid in the lower receiver and permit thereby
the starting of the bottling apparatus, by forcing the liquid through the siphons.
The pipe is only used for starting the apparatus, for as soon as the liquid passes
through the siphons, and establishes a suction action in the same, the drawing off
can be continued without interruption until all the required number of bottles are
filled, and the working of the apparatus is to be discontinued.

page_text: The pipe fis provided with a stop-cock and an aperture f' in its front-part.
This aperture may be closed by the fore-finger when the syphoning-action of
the siphon-tubes is to be started, or a valve, shown in Figure 64, may be
provided, which is depressed when the siphoning-action of the tubes C¹is to be
started, and which is automatically closed by a spring as soon as the pressure of
the valve is released.
The operation of my improved bottle-filling apparatus is as follows: The
connection of the receiver containing carbonic acid gas under pressure is first
made with the gas-supply cylinder, then the pipes connecting the said gas-supply
cylinder with the bungs of different kegs or barrels are placed in position, and
likewise the pipes connecting the pipes of the upper receiver with the different
kegs or barrels. As soon as the valves of the Y-pipes are turned on, the liquid
passes into the upper receiver, so as to fill the same to the required level. The
supply of liquid to the upper receiver is automatically-controlled by the float-
operated valve. When too high a level of liquid is established, the float is raised
so that the further supply of gas and liquid is interrupted. The foam that is
formed by the liquid in the upper receiver is retained in the same, the liquid
passing from the lower part of the tank below the screen, by the valved connecting-
pipe B into the lower receiver, and from the same through the oscillating siphons
into the bottles to be filled. One bottle after the other is placed on the exterior
legs of the siphon-tubes and the inner end thereof moved away from the elastic
plate of the lower receiver so that the filling action commences immediately. The
supply of liquid to the bottle is continued until the level of the liquid in the neck
of the bottle is equal with the level of the liquid in the lower receiver, when the
further supply of liquid is automatically interrupted, as the liquid in the neck of
the bottle cannot rise above the liquid in the receiver. Consequently no spilling
of liquid in filling the bottles takes place. The bottle is then removed from the
exterior leg of the siphon-tube, care being taken that the liquid stands higher
than necessary in the neck of the bottle so that when the bottle is removed from
the exterior leg, every bottle is filled exactly to the required height. The bottle
is then closed by its stopper or by the corking machine. The next bottle is then
placed on the exterior leg of the siphon-tube and filled in the same manner.
the foam is retained in the upper receiver, no foaming takes place in the lower,
receiver, so that consequently the bottles can be rapidly filled by being hung in
quick succession on the exterior legs of the siphon-tubes, the supply of liquid
Keeping pace with the filling, so that a skilled bottler is enabled to fill a large
number of bottles within a given time. When the supply of bottles gives out,
the supply of liquid to the lower receiver is interrupted by the closing of its float-
valve which closes the supply-pipe with the upper receiver in a reliable and
automatic manner. When the filling of the bottles is to be continued, they are
again hung on the exterior legs of the siphon-tubes, whereby the level of the liquid
in the lower receiver is lowered again and thereby the supply-valve v opened so
that the supply of liquid to the lower receiver from the upper receiver is resumed.
By the arrangement of the upper foam-retaining receiver, which is interposed
between the lower bottle-filling receiver and the keg from which the liquid is
supplied, the clogging of the bottle-filling apparatus by the foam generated by the
passing of the beer or other fermented liquid through the receiver is prevented,
and thereby the operation of the apparatus is rendered reliable and effective.
As
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is.
1. The combination of an upper foam-retaining receiver, a supply-pipe connecting
the receiver with a keg or other receptacle containing the liquid to be bottled, a
float-governed valve in said receiver for automatically opening or closing the
supply-pipe, a second receiver located below the first receiver and connected
therewith by a valved supply-pipe, one or more siphon-tubes arranged in the lower

page_text: receiver and adapted to receive the bottles on the exterior legs of the same, and
means for automatically opening or closing the inner end of the supply-pipe of the
lower receiver, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination of an upper foam-retaining receiver adapted to be connected
with the keg or other receptacle containing the liquid to be bottled, a strainer at
the lower part of said receiver, a second receiver located below the foam-retaining
receiver, a valved supply-pipe connecting the upper receiver below the strainer
with the lower receiver, one or more siphon-tubes arranged on the lower receiver
and adapted to receive the bottles, and means for automatically opening or closing
the inner end of the supply-pipe of the lower receiver, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination of an upper foam-retaining receiver, connected with the keg
or other receptacle containing the liquid to be bottled, a valved gas-outlet-pipe
in said receiver, a strainer at the lower part of said receiver, a second receiver
located below the foam-retaining receiver, a valved supply-pipe connecting the
upper receiver below the strainer with the lower receiver, one or more siphon-tubes
arranged on the lower receiver and adapted to be oscillated by the bottles so as to
supply the liquid to the same, and an automatically-operated float-governed valve
at the inner end of the supply-tube of the lower receiver, substantially as set
forth.
4. The combination of an upper foam-retaining receiver, provided with a valved
gas-outlet-tube, a supply-pipe connected with the keg or other receptacle from
which the liquid is supplied, a second receiver located below the first receiver, a
valved-supply-pipe connecting the upper receiver with the lower receiver, one or
more siphon-tubes arranged on the lower receiver and provided with stoppers, and
vent-tubes connecting the stoppers with the gas-outlet-tube on the upper receiver,
substantially as set forth.
5. The combination, of a lower or filling receiver provided with one or more
oscillating siphon-tubes, springs for connecting the siphon-tubes with a fixed bar
on said receiver, means for closing the inner ends of the siphon-tubes when they
are swung outwardly by said springs, and a hermetically sealed packing for each
siphon-tube at the point where it leaves the receiver, substantially as set forth.
6. The combination, in a bottle-filling machine, of an upper or foam-retaining
receiver, into which the liquid is supplied, a lower receiver provided with
oscillating siphons, a valved tube connecting the upper and lower receivers, a gas-
supply cylinder connected with a source of supply of carbonic acid gas under
pressure and valved pipes connecting the gas-supply cylinder with the kegs the
contents of which are to be bottled, substantially as set forth.
7. The combination, in a bottle-filling machine, of an upper receiver, a lower
receiver provided with oscillating siphous, a valved connecting-pipe between the
upper and lower receivers, a gas-supply cylinder connected with a source of
carbonic acid gas under pressure, pipes connecting said gas-supply cylinder with
the kegs or barrels the contents of which are to be bottled, and a valved pipe
connecting the gas-supply cylinder with the lower tank, said valved pipe having
an air orifice and being adapted to start the siphons of the lower receiver, and set
thereby the bottling apparatus in operation, substantially as set forth.
8. The combination, in a bottle-filling machine, of a closed receiver provided
with oscillating siphons, of a gas-supply cylinder connected with a source of
carbonic acid gas under pressure, and valved pipes connecting the gas-supply
cylinder with the kegs the contents of which are to be bottled and with the
receiver, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 8th day of January 1895.
e Applicants,
J. G. LORRAIN, M. Inst. E.E., M. Inst. M.E.,
Chartered Patent Agent.