Patent ID: 8028723

Claim:
A method for filling a receiving container with a predetermined target mass of a free-flowing substance from a reservoir, comprising the steps of: providing an arrangement, comprising: a dosage-dispensing device, positioned between the reservoir and the receiving container, the dosage dispensing-device comprising a valve which allows a variable setting of the mass flow rate from the reservoir into the receiving container; a timing means, a balance, positioned beneath the receiving container; and a unit for controlling the valve, the controller unit comprising an estimating module and a correction module, the controller unit in communication with the timing means and the balance; setting a mass flow rate of the valve; beginning a fill cycle; determining, using the balance, the mass of the substance present in the receiving container, at an elapsed time t since the beginning of the fill cycle, as measured by the timing means; estimating, in the estimating module, the expected mass to be present in the receiving container at the end of the fill cycle at a time t 2 , the estimate based on the assumptions that: from the time t to a future time t 2 , the valve is being closed according to a predefined closing-down profile; and the fill cycle will be completed at time t 2 ; and comparing, in the correction module, the estimated expected mass to the target mass, and, if the estimated mass is found to be smaller than the target mass, controlling the valve to perform at least one of: maintaining the valve setting associated with the mass flow rate at time t for a differential time segment Δt, and increasing the mass flow rate existing at the time t.