Patent ID: 6863092

Claim:
Apparatus for filling containers with liquid of the type having a tubular filling lance operatively connected to a source of liquid and being vertically moveable between raised positions above said containers and lowered positions, when coaxially aligned with a filling hole in one of said containers, extending through said filling hole into said container for filling thereof, said apparatus comprising: a conveyor assembly on which two or more of said containers may be moved to a filling station generally below said filling lance, the filling holes of said containers being randomly disposed; a gantry frame located at said filling station and under which said containers may be moved by said conveyor assembly to said filling station; a carriage assembly supported on said gantry frame and by which said filling lance may be moved in X, Y, Z coordinates; where the X axis is horizontal and transverse to movement of said conveyor means, the Y axis is horizontal and perpendicular to said X axis and the Z axis is vertical; first to a raised position coaxially aligned with a selected one of said container filling holes and then to a lowered position into said selected container; an electronic sensor positioned above said gantry frame for sensing, in X and Y coordinates, the location of each of said container filling holes; and a controller connected to said electronic sensor and to said carriage assembly for activation of said carriage assembly for movement of said filling lance to said coaxial alignment with said selected one of said container filling holes and then to said lowered position into said selected container for filling thereof.