Container Filling System and Valve for Same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016052767-A1
Application number	US-201414778720-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 21, 2014
Priority date	Mar 22, 2013
Publication date	Feb 25, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A container filling valve may include a shuttle and a drive sleeve that are magnetically coupled. Movement of the drive sleeve may move the shuttle from a position in which the filling valve is closed to a position in which the filling valve is open. A container handling arm may include a distal end configured to hold a container and a proximal end that includes a load cell. A low flow setpoint system may be configured to arrest closing of a filling valve when that filling valve is partially closed. A pressure control system may be configured to maintain a desired pressure in a reservoir or in a flow path from that reservoir. A product recirculation system may be configured to adjust flow rate in the product recirculation system.

First claim

1 . A filling valve comprising:
a housing defining a housing interior between a housing inlet and a housing outlet; a shuttle located in and movable along the housing interior, the shuttle including a stopper sized to close the housing outlet and plurality of shuttle magnets displaced from the stopper, wherein the shuttle magnets are arranged so that fluid can flow through the housing interior and between the shuttle magnets when the filling valve is open; and a drive sleeve including sleeve magnets, wherein the drive sleeve is located outside the housing and is moveable along a portion of a length of the housing.

2 . The filling valve of claim 1 , wherein the sleeve magnets are staggered, relative to the shuttle magnets, along a length of the shuttle so as to form a magnetic spring.

3 . The filling valve of claim 1 of claim 2 , wherein the shuttle includes one or more drive rings and the shuttle magnets are located in the one or more shuttle drive rings.

4 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 3 , and wherein the sleeve magnets are arranged in rings along a length of the sleeve.

5 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 4 , wherein the shuttle magnets are in repulsion to the sleeve magnets.

6 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 5 , wherein the housing outlet has a width of at least 0.625 inches.

7 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 6 , wherein a flow path through the housing interior is straight

8 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 7 , wherein the shuttle includes a stem extending along a longitudinal centerline of the housing interior, the shuttle magnets are radially displaced from stem, and the stopper is coupled to a bottom of the stem.

9 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 8 , further comprising a plurality of vanes positioned between the shuttle magnets and the stopper.

10 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 9 , wherein the filling valve is part of a container filling system that comprises a reservoir having an interior in fluid communication with the housing interior.

11 . The filling valve of claim 10 , wherein the filling system further comprises a pressure control system configured to maintain a pressure at a point in the reservoir or in a flow path from the reservoir at or near the target pressure value.

12 . The filling valve of claim 10 or claim 11 , wherein the filling system further comprises a product recirculation system connected to the filling valve.

13 . The filling valve of claim 12 , wherein the product recirculation system includes a variable flow pump and is configured to automatically adjust a flow of the pump.

14 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 13 , further comprising an adjustable low flow setpoint system.

15 . The filling valve of any of claims 1 through 14 , further comprising a container handling arm configured to hold a container in a filling position relative to the filling valve and to output signals indicative of weights of the container and its contents.

16 . A process for filling containers comprising:
loading a reservoir of a filling system with a first beverage product, wherein the filling system comprises a filling valve connected to the reservoir; during a first time period, dispensing a heated first quantity of the first beverage product into each of multiple containers through the filling valve; loading the reservoir with a second beverage product; and during a second time period different from the first time period, and while maintaining a filling zone under the filling valve in an aseptic condition, dispensing an unheated second quantity of the second beverage product into each of multiple containers through the filling valve.

17 . The process of claim 16 , wherein the filling zone is not maintained in an aseptic condition during the first time period.

18 . The process of any claim 16 or claim 17 , further comprising:
loading the reservoir with a third beverage product; and
during a third time period different from the first time period and the second time period, and without maintaining the filling zone in an aseptic condition, dispensing an unheated third quantity of the third beverage product into each of multiple containers through the filling valve.

19 . The process of any of claims 16 through 18 , wherein
one of the first beverage product, the second beverage and the third beverage product has a viscosity, during the dispensing of that beverage product, between about 1 centipoise (cps) and about 50 cps, and
another of the first beverage product, the second beverage and the third beverage product has a viscosity, during the dispensing of that beverage product, between about 100 cps and about 200 cps.

20 . The process of any of claims 16 through 19 , wherein
one of the beverage products has substantially no inclusions, and
another of the beverage products has inclusions at a volumetric percentage of at least 25%, wherein the inclusions include inclusions having individual volumes of at least 400 cubic millimeters.

21 . The process of any of claims 16 through 19 , wherein
one of the beverage products has substantially no inclusions, and
another of the beverage products has inclusions at a volumetric percentage of about 1%, wherein the inclusions include inclusions having individual volumes of less than 1 cubic millimeter.

22 . A container handling arm comprising:
a gripper positioned at a distal end of the container handling arm and configured to retain a beverage container; and a load cell positioned at a proximal end of the container handling arm and configured to output signals indicative of weights of a container and its contents when that container is retained by the gripper.

23 . The container handling arm of claim 22 , wherein the container handling arm is adjustable to alter a ratio between a weight imposed on the gripper and a resulting weight imposed on the load cell.

24 . The container handling arm of claim 22 or claim 23 , further comprising:
a fulcrum element; and
a lever coupled to the gripper and to the load cell, wherein the lever includes a pivot location and is configured to rotate about the fulcrum element at the pivot location.

25 . The container handling arm of any of claims 22 through 24 , wherein the fulcrum element is part of a bracket, and wherein the bracket is repositionable along the length of the container handling arm to increase or decrease a distance between the fulcrum element and the load cell.

26 . The container handling arm of claim 24 or claim 25 , wherein the pivot location is one of multiple discrete pivot locations located along a length of the lever.

27 . The container handling arm of claim 25 or claim 26 , wherein the container handling arm includes a support beam having a discrete number of bracket positions adapted to receive the bracket.

28 . The container handling arm of claim 27 , wherein
each of discrete number of bracket positions comprises a hole in the support beam, and the bracket includes a hole and is repositionable along the length of the container handling arm by placing a fastener through the hole in the bracket and through one of the holes of the discrete number of bracket positions.

29 . The container handling arm of any of claims 24 throu

Assignees

• Pepsico Inc

Inventors

• Eaton John A
• Martin David William
• Warburton David Jay
• Coleman Nathan John
• Feller Samuel Frank
• Evans Thomas John
• Sorge Jason Karl
• Straub Randy A

Classifications

• B65B59/003

  Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the packaging material · CPC title

• B65B59/001

  Arrangements to enable adjustments related to the product to be packaged · CPC title

• B65B2220/14

  Adding more than one type of material or article to the same package · CPC title

• B67C3/00

  Bottling liquids or semiliquids; Filling jars or cans with liquids or semiliquids using bottling or like apparatus; Filling casks or barrels with liquids or semiliquids · CPC title

• B67C3/202

  by weighing · CPC title