Filling valve

Claim 2

In a container filling machine of the type having a rotatable supply tank mounting a measuring cylinder and piston assembly and a valve assembly including a valve plunger and a valve casing providing a filling nozzle; ports interconnecting said valve assembly, said supply tank and said measuring cylinder, means for raising said piston to charge the measuring cylinder with product from said supply tank, and means for lowering the piston to pump the product charge through the open valve into a container beneath the nozzle, the improvement comprising: a. said valve casing having an upright bore forming a nozzle open to atmosphere at its lower end; b. said measuring cylinder having an upright bore with a closed bottom disposed alongside said valve casing; and c. cooperative ports in said measuring cylinder and said valve casing forming a fluid conducting port descending diagonally from said valve casing bore into said measuring cylinder bore; d. the lowermost intersection of said port with the bore of said valve casing being above the uppermost intersection of said port with the bore of said measuring cylinder so that the lower portion of said port and said measuring chamber bore form a Utube, atmospheric pressure acting on the liquid in said port supporting the column of liquid in the measUring chamber for preventing gravitational draining of said U-tube through the nozzle end of the valve casing when said valve plunger has opened said port and liquid has drained from the upper portion of said port.

Claim 3

The filling machine of claim 1 wherein said valve casing and said measuring cylinder are side by side on a substantially radial line extending from the turning axis of said supply tank, said valve casing being positioned intermediate said supply tank and said measuring cylinder.

Claim 4

In a container filling machine of the type having a rotating reservoir, a measuring cylinder and piston assembly and a valve casing and valve plunger assembly, said assemblies being mounted side by side externally of said reservoir, a filling nozzle depending from said valve casing, a port connecting said reservoir to said valve casing and a port connecting said valve casing to said measuring cylinder, a port in said valve plunger for interconnecting said reservoir and measuring cylinder ports with the valve lowered, raising of the plunger valve sealing off the reservoir port while opening the measuring cylinder port to the valve casing below the lower end of the valve plunger; the improvement wherein said measuring cylinder is mounted on said valve casing along a radial line from substantially the center of said reservoir and passing through the valve plunger, said valve plunger port being a straight bore extending diagonally down from the reservoir and toward the measuring cylinder.

Claim 5

In a container filling machine of the type having a rotating reservoir, a measuring cylinder and piston assembly and a valve casing and valve plunger assembly, said assemblies being mounted side by side externally of said reservoir, a filling nozzle depending from said valve casing, a port connecting said reservoir to said valve casing and a port connecting said valve casing to said measuring cylinder, a port in said valve plunger for interconnecting said reservoir and measuring cylinder ports with the valve lowered, raising of the plunger valve sealing off the reservoir port while opening the measuring cylinder port to the valve casing below the lower end of the valve plunger; the improvement wherein said measuring cylinder is mounted on said valve casing along a radial line from substantially the center of said reservoir and passing through the valve plunger, said valve plunger port being a straight bore extending diagonally down from the reservoir and toward the measuring cylinder.

Claim 6

The filling machine of claim 3, wherein said valve casing is a separate block-like member, and means for removably securing said valve casing to said reservoir and said measuring cylinder to said valve casing.

Claim 7

The filling machine of claim 4, wherein said valve plunger projects up past said valve block-like valve casing member, a grooved guide block secured to the upper end portion of said valve plunger, and a fixed guide bar mounted on said cylinder and slidably fitting said guide block groove to prevent rotation of said valve plunger.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said ports cooperatively form a linear passage extending upwardly from the lower end of said measuring cylinder through said valve plunger and into said reservoir when said filling nozzle is closed by said valve plunger after said measuring piston has descended to fill a container, and means for moving said piston further downward after said filling nozzle is closed to return a surplus charge of product from said measuring cylinder upward through said linear passage to said reservoir in order to remove any entrained air bubbles.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 6 and a removable bottom end cap on said measuring cylinder, and manually operable means mounting said end cap for movement between a position in sealing engagement with the bottom end of said measuring cylinder and a position opening said bottom end for free interior access.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 7 and a guide block removably and non-rotatably attached to the upper end of said valve plunger, said guide block having opposed guide tracks, and a pair of fixed guide bars extending upwardly from said measuring cylinder for relative sliding engagement with said guide block tracks to maintain a predetermined orientation for the diagonal bore of said plunger valve.

Claim 11

In a rotary filling machine including a supply tank rotatable about an upright axis, a plurality of plunger type filling valves externally secured to said tank, and measuring piston and cylinder assemblies each associated with a filling valve for inducting a measured charge of product from the supply tank and discharging the charge through a filling valve nozzle into a container carried under the valve; the improvement wherein each filling valve and the associated measuring cylinder are side by side on a substantially radial line extending substantially from the turning axis of said supply tank, said filling valve being positioned intermediate said supply tank and said measurIng cylinder; the supply tank, the plunger of said filling valve, and said measuring cylinder each having diagonal ports cooperatively arranged to provide a diagonal passage when the filling valve nozzle is closed by the valve plunger; said passage extending diagonally upwardly from the bottom end of said measuring cylinder through said valve plunger port and to said supply tank to provide an escape path from said measuring cylinder to said supply tank for entrained air bubbles in the product; the lower portion of said diagonal port associated with said measuring cylinder and said measuring cylinder forming, when said filling valve plunger has opened the nozzle and has closed relative said supply tank port, a U-tube with said lower portion of the diagonal measuring cylinder port open to atmosphere to support the column of liquid in said measuring cylinder and to inhibit drainage of the product from said port and said measuring chamber.

Claim 12

In a rotary filling machine including a supply tank rotatable about an upright axis, a plurality of plunger type filling valves externally secured to said tank, and measuring piston and cylinder assemblies each associated with a filling valve for inducting a measured charge of product from the supply tank and discharging the charge through a filling valve nozzle into a container carried under the valve; the improvement wherein each filling valve and the associated measuring cylinder are side by side on a substantially radial line extending substantially from the turning axis of said supply tank, said filling valve being positioned intermediate said supply tank and said measurIng cylinder; the supply tank, the plunger of said filling valve, and said measuring cylinder each having diagonal ports cooperatively arranged to provide a diagonal passage when the filling valve nozzle is closed by the valve plunger; said passage extending diagonally upwardly from the bottom end of said measuring cylinder through said valve plunger port and to said supply tank to provide an escape path from said measuring cylinder to said supply tank for entrained air bubbles in the product; the lower portion of said diagonal port associated with said measuring cylinder and said measuring cylinder forming, when said filling valve plunger has opened the nozzle and has closed relative said supply tank port, a U-tube with said lower portion of the diagonal measuring cylinder port open to atmosphere to support the column of liquid in said measuring cylinder and to inhibit drainage of the product from said port and said measuring chamber.