Method and device for filling a container to be filled with a filling product

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10836621-B2
Application number	US-201514678850-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2015
Priority date	Apr 4, 2014
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

A method for filling a container to be filled with a fill product is described. The method includes connecting the container to be filled with a product fill pipe, determining the initial pressure in the container to be filled, filling the container to be filled, and stopping the filling of the container when a predetermined cut-off pressure is reached in the container.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for filling a container with a carbonated beverage in a beverage filling plant, which comprises:
connecting the container with a beverage fill pipe to form a seal;
after connecting the container and before filling the container with the carbonated beverage, evacuating the container;
determining an initial pressure in the evacuated container;
filling the evacuated container with the carbonated beverage as pressure in the container rises to reach atmospheric pressure;
after the pressure in the container reaches atmospheric pressure, continuing to fill the container with the carbonated beverage as the pressure in the container rises above atmospheric pressure; and
after continuing to fill the container, stopping the filling of the container when an equilibrium of pressures in the container and the beverage fill pipe is reached, or a predetermined cut-off pressure is reached in the container.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the container is evacuated to an absolute pressure of about 0.5 to 0.05 bar.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbonated beverage is supplied at an absolute pressure of about 1 bar to 9 bar.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the initial pressure according to the predetermined cut-off pressure.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbonated beverage is supplied at the predetermined cut-off pressure.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbonated beverage is at a higher pressure than the pre-determined cut-off pressure during the filling of the evacuated container.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising measuring a changing pressure in the container.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising closing a filler valve when one or both of a predetermined rise in the pressure and a predetermined differential of the pressure is reached.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the predetermined cut-off pressure, wherein determining the predetermined cut-off pressure comprises:
determining an overall volume of the container based on a volume of an internal space of the container and a volume contributed by a product fill pipe; and
determining a volume of residual gas in the container at the initial pressure, wherein filling the container with the carbonated beverage comprises filling the container to a first fill volume corresponding to when atmospheric pressure is reached in the container.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the predetermined cut-off pressure further comprises determining a missing fill volume based on a difference between the first fill volume and a desired fill volume.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the predetermined cut-off pressure is based on a ratio of the volume of residual gas to the missing fill volume, and filling the container with the carbonated beverage further comprises filling the container to a second fill volume corresponding to when the predetermined cut-off pressure is reached in the container.

12. A method for filling a container with a carbonated beverage in a beverage filling plant, which comprises:
evacuating the container so that the container is brought to a first pressure, wherein the first pressure is an underpressure with respect to the carbonated beverage;
determining an initial pressure in the evacuated container;
filling, via a fill product feed, the evacuated container with the carbonated beverage supplied at a second pressure as pressure in the container rises to reach atmospheric pressure;
after the pressure in the container reaches atmospheric pressure, continuing to fill the container with the carbonated beverage as the pressure in the container rises above atmospheric pressure; and
after continuing to fill the container, stopping the filling of the container when an equilibrium of pressures in the container and the fill product feed is reached, or a predetermined cut-off pressure is reached in the container.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the second pressure is an overpressure with respect to the predetermined cut-off pressure, or an overpressure with respect to the initial pressure.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the overpressure with respect to the initial pressure corresponds to atmospheric pressure or a saturated pressure of the carbonated beverage.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the saturated pressure is an absolute pressure of about 1.6 to 9 bar.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the second pressure is equal to the predetermined cut-off pressure.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising counteracting release of carbon dioxide in the carbonated beverage.

18. A device for filling a container with a carbonated beverage in a beverage filling plant, comprising:
a beverage fill pipe connected to the container to form a seal, wherein the beverage fill pipe is in fluid communication with a beverage feed via a filler valve;
a vacuum line that is configured to evacuate the container after the container is connected to the beverage fill pipe and before the container is filled with the carbonated beverage;
a pressure gauge that is configured to determine an initial pressure in the evacuated container; and
a control device that is configured to open the filler valve after the initial pressure is determined in the evacuated container, keep the filler valve open as the container reaches atmospheric pressure for initial filling and after the container reaches atmospheric pressure for further filling, and to close the filler valve after the further filling when an equilibrium of pressures in the container and the beverage fill pipe is reached, or a predetermined cut-off pressure is reached in the container.

Assignees

• Krones Ag

Inventors

• Meinzinger Rupert

Classifications

• B67C3/16 Primary

  using suction · CPC title

• B67C3/2634

  specially adapted for vacuum or suction filling · CPC title

• B67C3/12

  Pressure-control devices · CPC title

• B67C3/26

  Filling-heads; Means for engaging filling-heads with bottle necks · CPC title

• B67C3/10 Primary

  preliminary filling with inert gases, e.g. carbon dioxide · CPC title