Patent ID: 8403009

Claim:
A method for filling in cycles a plurality of containers ( 3 ) at a predetermined number (x) of stationary filling units (F 1 , F 2 , . . . , F x ) arranged in a row with a first spacing (y) from each other, comprising: (a) providing a plurality of positively guided containers ( 3 ) in a row, one-by-one, wherein the containers ( 3 ) have a second uniform spacing (d) from each other, and wherein the first spacing (y) of the individual filling units (F 1 , F 2 , . . . , F x ) is a whole-number multiple of the second spacing (d) of the containers ( 3 ), wherein the whole-number multiple is greater than one, (b) filling a predetermined number (x) of the containers ( 3 ) simultaneously at the filling units (F 1 , F 2 , . . . , F x ) (c) shifting the containers ( 3 ) in cycles along the filling units (F 1 , F 2 , . . . , F x ) in a transport direction by a step length (z), which is a whole-number multiple of the second spacing (d) of the containers ( 3 ) and which is shorter than a third spacing ((x−1)*y) between a first filling unit (F 1 ) and a last filling unit (F x ), and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) over a predetermined number of iterations.