Transition path for filling machine

Claim 2

In a container filling machine of the type comprising a horizontal plane turret having pockets for advancing containers around a horizontal plane filling path that comprises a substantially circular arc, and filling valves on said turret above the pockets, means forming a substantially straight discharge path offset from said filling path, means forming a curved transition path running tangentially from said filling path and terminating tangentially with said straight discharge path, guide means for confining the containers for motion along said paths, and means for smoothly advancing containers leaving said pockets along said transition and discharge paths; the improvement wherein the radius of curvature of said transition path equals that of said filling path at the junction of said paths, said radius of curvature of the transition path increasing smoothly up to a substantially infinite radius at the junction of said transition path with said straight discharge path.

Claim 3

The machine of claim 1, comprising means for banking the containers around said filling path and means for also banking the containers around said transition path, said banking means smoothly decreasing the banking action on the containers as they move along the transition path.

Claim 4

The machine of claim 2, wherein the banking angle provided by said banking means is less than the banking angle required to completely counteract the effect of centrifugal force on the product in a container during normal operation, but is sufficient to prevent spillage during normal operation when a head space remains in a filled container.

Claim 5

The machine of claim 2, wherein said smoothly decreasing banking action continues on past the junction of said transition path with the straight discharge path.

Claim 6

The filling machine of claim 1, wherein said transition path is a spiral having a constant decrease in curvature along its length.

Claim 7

The filling machine of claim 1, wherein said transition path is a parabolic curve expressed in Cartesian coordinates as y axn, with its origin at the point of tangency of the transition path with a straight line that is offset from the substantially circular filling path, the positive x axis of the curve being an extension of said straight line and with the coefficient a and the exponent n selected to provide a minimum radius of curvature of the exponential curve forming the transition path equal to the radius of said filling path at the junction of the latter with said transition path.

Claim 8

The machine of claim 6, wherein the straight line discharge path is offset from said straight line by no more than a few thousandths of an inch.

Claim 9

The machine of claim 6, wherein the coefficient a is substantially less than unity and the coefficient n exceeds 3.

Claim 10

In a container filling machine of the type comprising a horizontal plane turret having pockets for advancing containers around a horizontal plane, banked filling path that comprises a substantially circular arc, and filling valves on said turret above said pockets; means forming a substantially straight discharge path offset from said filling path, means forming a curved transition path running tangentially from said filling path and terminating tangentially with said straight discharge path, guide means for confining the containers for motion along said paths, and means for smoothly advancing containers leaving said pockets along said transition and discharge paths; the improvement wherein the curvature of said transition path equals that of said filling path at the junction of said paths, the curvature of said transition path decreasing smoothly to substantially zero curvature at said straight discharge path; said transition path having a shape such that the area under the curve represented by a plot of the rate of change of curvature of said transition path against the distance along the path over the length of the path is equal to the area thus obtained when the rate of decrease in curvature of the transition path is constant along its length, as in the case where the path is a constant curvature decrease spiral; the ratio of the maximum rate of change of curvature of the transition path along its length to the rate of change of curvature of a transition path having a constant rate of decrease in curvature along its length not substantially exceeding the value of 1.7.

Claim 11

In a container filling machine of the type comprising a horizontal plane turret having pockets for advancing containers around a horizontal plane, banked filling path that comprises a substantially circular arc, and filling valves on said turret above said pockets; means forming a substantially straight discharge path offset from said filling path, means forming a curved transition path running tangentially from said filling path and terminating tangentially with said straight discharge path, guide means for confining the containers for motion along said paths, and means for smoothly advancing containers leaving said pockets along said transition and discharge paths; the improvement wherein the curvature of said transition path equals that of said filling path at the junction of said paths, the curvature of said transition path decreasing smoothly to substantially zero curvature at said straight discharge path; said transition path having a shape such that the area under the curve represented by a plot of the rate of change of curvature of said transition path against the distance along the path over the length of the path is equal to the area thus obtained when the rate of decrease in curvature of the transition path is constant along its length, as in the case where the path is a constant curvature decrease spiral; the ratio of the maximum rate of change of curvature of the transition path along its length to the rate of change of curvature of a transition path having a constant rate of decrease in curvature along its length not substantially exceeding the value of 1.7.

Claim 12

The filling machine of claim 9, wherein said transition path is a parabolic type curve expressed in Cartesian coordinates as y axn, with its origin at the point of tangency of the transition path with a straight line that is offset from the filling path, the positive x axis of the curve being an extension of said straight line and with the coefficient a and the exponent n selected to provide a minimum radius of curvature of the exponential curve forming the transition path equal to the radius of said filling path at the junction of the latter with said transition path.

Claim 13

The filling machine of claim 9, wherein coefficient a is substantially less than unity and the exponent n in the expression exceeds the value of 3.

Claim 14

The machine of claim 9, comprising means for banking the containers around said filling path and the transition path, said banking means smoothly decreasing the banking action along the transition path.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13, wherein the containers are banked around said filling path; the improvement comprising smoothly decreasing the banking of the containers from its maximum value along the filling path to a smaller value along said transition path.