Filling unit to fill a container, in particular a cartridge, with a liquid product of the pharmaceutical industry

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11801956-B2
Application number	US-202017595138-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2020
Priority date	May 23, 2019
Publication date	Oct 31, 2023
Grant date	Oct 31, 2023

Abstract

A filling unit to fill a container, in particular a cartridge, with a liquid product of the pharmaceutical industry having: a dosing head, which is arranged in a filling station and is designed to feed a quantity of product into the container through an open upper end of the container; a capping device, which is arranged in a capping station and is designed to insert a closing element into the container and through the open upper end of the container; and a sucking device which is arranged in a degasification station located between the filling station and the capping station, is designed to engage the open upper end of the container in a sealing manner, and is designed to generate a depression inside the container in an upper volume, which is not occupied by the product.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A filling unit ( 11 ) to fill a container ( 1 ) with a liquid product ( 5 ) of the pharmaceutical industry; the filling unit ( 11 ) comprising:
a dosing head ( 12 ), which is arranged in a filling station (S 1 ) and is designed to feed a quantity of product ( 5 ) into the container ( 1 ) through an open upper end of the container ( 1 );
a capping device ( 18 ), which is arranged in a capping station (S 3 ) and is designed to insert a closing element into the container ( 1 ) and through the open upper end of the container ( 1 ); and
a first sucking device ( 15 ), which is arranged in a degasification station (S 2 ) located between the filling station (S 1 ) and the capping station (S 3 ), is designed to engage the open upper end of the container ( 1 ) in a sealing manner, and is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) in an upper volume, which is not occupied by the product ( 5 ), wherein:
the first sucking device ( 15 ) is designed to generate the depression inside the container ( 1 ) in the upper volume, which is not occupied by the product ( 5 ), by sucking only and exclusively air and without sucking any part of the product or any foam that is generated during feeding of the product.

2. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the first sucking device ( 15 ) is designed to generate a depression sufficient to suck part of the air but completely insufficient to suck any part of the product ( 5 ) or any foam that is generated during the feeding of the product ( 5 ).

3. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the first sucking device ( 15 ) is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 Pascal and is designed to maintain the depression for an amount of time ranging from 0.4 to 3 seconds.

4. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the first sucking device ( 15 ) comprises a first elastic cap ( 16 ), which is designed to engage the open upper end of the container ( 1 ).

5. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 1 and comprising a second sucking device ( 20 ), which is arranged in the capping station (S 3 ), is designed to engage the open upper end of the container ( 1 ) in a sealing manner, and is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) in an upper volume, which is not occupied by the product ( 5 ), during the insertion of the closing element.

6. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) in the upper volume, which is not occupied by the product ( 5 ), by sucking only and exclusively air.

7. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 6 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) in the upper volume, which is not occupied by the product ( 5 ), by sucking only and exclusively air and therefore without sucking any part of the product ( 5 ) or any foam that is generated during the feeding of the product ( 5 ).

8. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) is designed to generate a depression sufficient to suck part of the air but completely insufficient to suck any part of the product ( 5 ) or any foam that is generated during the feeding of the product ( 5 ).

9. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) comprises a chamber ( 21 ), inside which the depression is generated and along which the closing element is caused to pass.

10. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) is designed to generate a depression inside the container ( 1 ) ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 Pascal and is designed to maintain the depression for an amount of time ranging from 0.2 to 2 seconds.

11. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein the second sucking device ( 20 ) comprises a second elastic cap ( 22 ) which is designed to engage the open upper end of the container ( 1 ).

12. The filling unit ( 11 ) according to claim 5 , wherein between the degasification station (S 2 ) and the capping station (S 3 ) there is a rest station (S 4 ), in which the end of the container ( 1 ) is free and in communication with the external environment.

Assignees

• Gd Spa

Inventors

• Degliesposti Paolo
• Testoni Luca
• Legnani Mirco
• Federici Luca

Classifications

• B65B31/041 Primary

  the nozzles acting from above on containers or wrappers open at their top (B65B31/044 take precedence) · CPC title

• B65B3/003 Primary

  Filling medical containers such as ampoules, vials, syringes or the like · CPC title

• B65B3/12

  mechanically, e.g. by pistons or pumps · CPC title

• B65B3/22

  Defoaming liquids in connection with filling · CPC title

• B65B7/2842

  Securing closures on containers (in general B65B51/00) · CPC title