Device and method for filling a container to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (1) for filling a container (100) to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container (100) with a container closure, comprising a treatment chamber (2) for receiving a mouth (110) of the container (100) to be filled in a sealing manner, a filling body (4) for filling the container (100) received with the mouth (110) thereof in the treatment chamber (2), a closing body (5) for closing the container (100) received with the mouth (110) thereof in the treatment chamber (2), once it has been filled, with a container closure, and a compression gas valve (6) communicating with the treatment chamber (2) for introducing a compression gas into the treatment chamber (2), a vacuum valve (7) communicating with the treatment chamber (2) being provided for generating a vacuum in the treatment chamber (2).

Description

Technical area

[0001] The present invention relates to a device and a method for filling a container to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container with a container closure, for example for filling and closing a beverage container in a beverage filling plant. Technical background

[0002] Methods and devices for filling containers with a filling product in beverage filling plants are known. These methods involve accommodating a container to be filled in a treatment chamber, sealing it against the environment at its mouth. To fill the container with the filling product, a filling element is placed or pressed onto the mouth of the container to be filled, which is located in the treatment chamber. After the container has been filled with the filling product, the filling element is lifted off the mouth of the container, which is located in the treatment chamber, and then a container closure is sealed by means of a closing element, which also acts in the treatment chamber on the mouth of the then-filled container, which is located in the treatment chamber.The mouth of the container to be filled and then finally closed is located within the treatment chamber both during the filling process and during the closing process.

[0003] To enable the closure of the container filled with the filling product under a predetermined pressure and, in particular, to prevent foaming over of a carbonated filling product after removal of the filling valve, the treatment chamber is pre-pressurized with a pressurized gas, for example, CO2, before the container filled with the filling product is closed. Such a device and such a method are known, for example, from EP 2 937 310 A2. DE 195 38 023 A1 describes a device for filling a bottle with a carbonated beverage and for closing the bottle. Description of the invention

[0004] Based on the known prior art, it is an object of the present invention to further improve both the device and the method so that the filling process can be carried out in an even more gentle manner for the product.

[0005] This object is achieved by a device for filling a container with a filling product having the features of claim 1. Advantageous further developments emerge from the subclaims, the present description and the figures.

[0006] Accordingly, a device for filling a container to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container with a container closure is proposed, comprising a treatment chamber for sealingly receiving a mouth of the container to be filled, a filling element for filling the container received in the treatment chamber with its mouth, a closing element for closing the container received in the treatment chamber with its mouth after it has been filled with a container closure, and a compression gas valve in communication with the treatment chamber for introducing a compression gas into the treatment chamber. According to the invention, a vacuum valve in communication with the treatment chamber is provided for creating a negative pressure in the treatment chamber.

[0007] By providing a vacuum valve that communicates with the treatment chamber and can be pressurized with a negative pressure, it is possible to create a desired atmosphere in the treatment chamber and, in particular, to reduce the oxygen content of the gas present in the treatment chamber upon removal of the filling element. This also makes it possible, in particular, to ensure that the gas or gas mixture present in the treatment chamber has a defined composition and, in particular, a reduced oxygen content before the filling valve is removed from the opening of the container, which is then filled with the filling product.

[0008] Thus, after the filling valve has been removed from the mouth, the filling product held in the then filled container comes into contact with the gas mixture held in the treatment chamber and since this gas mixture has a reduced oxygen content, a possible contamination of the filling product by oxygen, especially in the case of oxygen-sensitive products such as beer, is reduced by the proposed device.

[0009] Preferably, the treatment chamber comprises a switchable seal by means of which the mouth of the container can be switchably sealed against the environment, wherein the switchable seal is preferably designed such that it acts on a neck region of the container.

[0010] This makes it possible to keep the volume of the treatment chamber small, as only the mouth area of ​​the container to be filled needs to be accommodated in the treatment chamber, not the entire container. Sealing can be performed, for example, on a neck area of ​​the container, upon which the switchable seal then acts. The resulting small volume of the treatment chamber allows gas consumption, particularly the consumption of compression gas, to be reduced. Despite the device's gentle handling of the product, lower compression gas consumption, particularly lower CO2 consumption, results.

[0011] Preferably, a purge gas valve communicating with the treatment chamber is also provided for introducing a purge gas into the treatment chamber, wherein the purge gas is preferably at a lower pressure than the compression gas. Thus, in addition to the compression gas valve, a purge gas valve is also provided, which communicates with the treatment chamber and by means of which a purge gas can flow through the treatment chamber. For example, the purge gas can be present at an absolute pressure of 1 to 2 bar, whereas the compression gas can be present at an absolute pressure of 3 to 10 bar.

[0012] This makes it possible to flush the treatment chamber with the purge gas by appropriately switching the vacuum valve, the purge gas valve and the compression gas valve before the treatment chamber is brought to the required compression pressure by means of the compression gas valve.

[0013] According to the invention, a control device is provided which is designed to open the vacuum valve after sealing the treatment chamber from the environment in order to apply a negative pressure to the treatment chamber and in this way to withdraw the gas present in the treatment chamber down to a predetermined negative pressure.

[0014] The control device is further configured to open or keep open the compression gas valve during a movement of the filling member and / or during a movement of the closing member.

[0015] The control device is preferably designed to close the vacuum valve before the filling element is removed from the mouth of the container in order to counteract the generation of a negative pressure in communication with the filled container interior and a concomitant tendency of the filling product to foam up.

[0016] Preferably, the purge gas valve can be opened simultaneously or after reaching a predetermined pressure or after reaching a predetermined time period after opening the vacuum valve, in order to achieve a gentle flow through the treatment chamber with the purge gas, for example with CO 2 , in order to displace the residual gas present in the treatment chamber essentially by the defined gas supplied via the purge gas and to withdraw it via the vacuum valve.

[0017] For this purpose, the control device is preferably designed to open the purge gas valve for introducing the purge gas into the treatment chamber simultaneously with the vacuum valve or after the vacuum valve has been opened.

[0018] After a predetermined time period of the purging process has elapsed or when a predetermined purge gas volume or a corresponding purge gas concentration is present within the treatment chamber, both the vacuum valve and the purge gas valve are closed and the compression gas valve is opened in order to raise the treatment chamber to the predetermined compression pressure using the compression gas, which is also CO2, for example.

[0019] As a result, the compression gas, for example CO2, is subsequently present in the treatment chamber at the specified pressure and with a purity that is higher than the initial level. Particularly preferably, the concentration of compression gas in the treatment chamber at this time is greater than 95%, preferably greater than 99%, so that the residual gas is essentially completely displaced from the treatment chamber and a substantially oxygen-free gas mixture is present.

[0020] As a result, when the filling device is subsequently lifted from the mouth of the container filled with the filling product, the container interior, and thus the filling product contained in the container, is exposed to the compressed gas atmosphere of the treatment chamber, which accordingly has a defined gas composition and, in particular, a reduced oxygen content compared to the initial situation. This correspondingly reduces the oxygen load of the filling product contained in the container or—depending on the residual gas concentration—can completely prevent oxygen load. This prevents the filling product from being exposed to oxygen, and product quality is further improved.

[0021] The control system is preferably configured such that the compression gas valve remains open during the lifting of the filling element from the mouth of the container, which is then filled with the filling product and is received in the treatment chamber and sealed to the treatment chamber, during any retraction or displacement of the filling element, and during any lowering of the closing element onto the mouth. Accordingly, the volume changes of the treatment chamber caused by the movements of the filling element and the closing element can be responded to, so that the pressure within the treatment chamber always corresponds to the pressure provided by the compression valve. In other words, the treatment chamber "breathes" through the compression gas valve during the volume changes carried out via the closing element and the filling element.

[0022] Preferably, the control device is configured such that, after sealing the treatment chamber, the vacuum valve is opened to evacuate the treatment chamber to the negative pressure specified by the vacuum valve, thereby substantially removing the gas mixture present in the treatment chamber, for example, air. Subsequently, the control device is preferably configured to close the vacuum valve and open the compression gas valve, thereby pressurizing the previously negatively pressurized treatment chamber with the compression gas. The filling device can then be lifted from the opening.

[0023] Preferably, the control device determines whether the treatment chamber is sealed. This can be done, for example, by the control device determining whether the container mouth is sealed to the treatment chamber by switching a switchable seal and / or whether the treatment chamber is sealed by inserting a closer into a closer receiving opening and / or whether the treatment chamber is sealed by inserting a filling device receiving opening and / or whether other process steps for sealing the treatment chamber have been performed.

[0024] In a further preferred embodiment, the control device is configured such that, after the treatment chamber has been sealed, it first opens the vacuum valve to thereby remove the gas mixture present in the treatment chamber, for example, air, and bring the treatment chamber to a negative pressure. The vacuum valve is then closed, and the compression gas valve, or in one variant, the purge gas valve, is opened, and the treatment chamber is pressurized with the compression gas or purge gas, which can each be CO2, to the pressure specified by the respective gas supply.The compression gas valve or purge gas valve is then closed again and the vacuum valve is opened again in order to once again extract the gas mixture then present in the treatment chamber, which could be a gas mixture of CO2 and air, for example, and to bring the treatment chamber back up to the negative pressure specified by the vacuum valve. The vacuum valve is then closed again and the compression gas valve is opened in order to then pressurize the newly evacuated treatment chamber with the compression gas. This process can be carried out more frequently in order to gradually reduce the remaining residual gas content in the treatment chamber through the sequence of evacuating the treatment chamber, re-pressurizing it with the compression or purge gas, and then evacuating again, until the desired residual gas content in the treatment chamber is reached.

[0025] In yet another advantageous embodiment, the control device is configured such that, once the treatment chamber has been sealed, it first opens the vacuum valve in order to extract the gas mixture present in the treatment chamber, for example ambient air. At the same time, or after a predetermined pressure has been reached or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the purge gas valve is then switched in order to purge the treatment chamber while the vacuum valve is simultaneously open. After a predetermined period of time, a predetermined purge gas volume, or a predetermined purge gas concentration in the treatment chamber, the vacuum valve and the purge gas valve are then closed, and the compression gas valve is opened in order to bring the treatment chamber, which has already been purged with the purge gas, to the predetermined compression pressure by means of the compression gas valve.

[0026] The above-mentioned different possibilities for setting up the control device serve to increase the purge gas or compression gas content in the treatment chamber as high as possible in order to reduce the residual gas content in the treatment chamber and in particular the oxygen content in the treatment chamber to a predetermined level.

[0027] In particular, the partial pressure of the compression gas or the purge gas corresponds at least to the saturation pressure of a carbonated filling product to be contained in the container.

[0028] In this way, the oxygen load of the filling product contained in the filled container can be reduced.

[0029] The control device is further preferably configured such that the vacuum valve is closed before a sealing connection between the filling element and the container mouth is released. This ensures that an excessive foaming tendency of the filling product contained in the container, in particular a carbonated filling product, does not occur or is not encouraged. Excessive foaming, in particular of a carbonated filling product, would occur, for example, if the carbonated filling product contained in the container were suddenly exposed to a negative pressure, which would then cause a significant release of the CO2 dissolved in the filling product.Accordingly, by designing or setting up the control device in such a way that the filling element is only released when the vacuum valve is closed, it can ensure that foaming or leakage of filling product from the filled container is reduced or avoided.

[0030] The above-mentioned object is also achieved by a method having the features of claim 9. Advantageous further developments emerge from the subclaims, the description and the figures.

[0031] Accordingly, a method for filling a container to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container with a container closure is proposed, comprising sealingly receiving a mouth of the container to be filled in a treatment chamber, filling the container received in the treatment chamber with its mouth with the filling product by means of a filling element sealingly applied to the mouth, closing the container received in the treatment chamber with its mouth after it has been filled with a container closure, and introducing a compression gas into the treatment chamber before removing the filling element from the mouth. According to the invention, a negative pressure is created in the treatment chamber before introducing the compression gas.

[0032] In this way, the advantages already mentioned above for the device can be achieved.

[0033] Preferably, the treatment chamber is flushed with a purge gas before the compression gas is introduced into the treatment chamber.

[0034] In a further preferred variant, when a predetermined negative pressure is reached or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the creation of the negative pressure is terminated and the treatment chamber is filled with purge gas and a negative pressure is then created again in the treatment chamber and the treatment chamber is then pre-pressurized with the compression gas. Short description of the figure

[0035] Preferred further embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description of the figure. It shows: Figure 1 a schematic representation of a device for filling a container with a filling product and for closing the container after filling. Detailed description of preferred embodiments

[0036] In the following, preferred embodiments are described with reference to the figure.

[0037] In Figure 1 a device 1 is shown schematically for filling a schematically shown container 100 to be filled with a filling product and for subsequently closing the container 100 then filled with the filling product.

[0038] The device 1 for filling the container 100 comprises a treatment chamber 2, into which an opening 110 of the container 100 to be filled protrudes. The container 100 to be filled can be sealed to the treatment chamber 2 via a switchable seal 20. The switchable seal 20 acts, for example, on a neck region 120 of the container 100. Thus, only the opening 110 and the neck region 120 up to the switchable seal 20 are located within the treatment chamber 2, but not the rest of the container 100.

[0039] The switchable seal 20 can be opened to allow the container 100, or its mouth 110, to be inserted into the treatment chamber 2. The switchable seal 20 can be opened or closed, for example, at a time predetermined by a control device 3 to accordingly seal or unsealeash the mouth region 110 of the container 100 to be filled from the treatment chamber 2. When the container 100 is sealed from the environment by means of the switchable seal 20, the interior of the container 100 communicates only with the treatment chamber 2, but not with the environment.

[0040] A filling element 4 is provided, which has a filling product outlet 40, which can be sealingly applied, for example, via an orifice seal 42, to the mouth 110 of the container 100 accommodated in the treatment chamber 2. For this purpose, the filling element 4 is pushed into the treatment chamber 2 in the direction of movement X such that the filling product outlet 40 is aligned with the mouth 110 of the container 100 such that a filling product can be introduced into the interior of the container 100. The mouth seal 42 preferably rests sealingly on the mouth 110 or is pressed onto the mouth 110.

[0041] The procedure for filling a container 100 to be filled via a filling device 4 is known in principle.

[0042] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the interior of the container 100 can first be evacuated by means of the filling element 4 sealed to the container 100, so that the interior of the container 100 is under a predetermined negative pressure. Before or during the evacuation of the interior of the container 100, the container interior can be flushed with a purge gas in order to replace any residual gas present in the container 100 with a defined purge gas.

[0043] After reaching a predetermined negative pressure in the container 100, the filling product, which is under positive pressure, is then preferably filled into the container 100 by means of the filling device. Due to the pressure conditions, the filling product is essentially filled into the container 100 to be filled in a substantially sudden manner.

[0044] This preferred rinsing, evacuating, and filling process of the container 100 to be filled is completely independent of the opening state of the treatment chamber 2 due to the sealing of the filling element 4 with the interior of the container 100. In particular, it is possible to carry out this process of filling the container 100 to be filled while the treatment chamber 2 is already sealed from the environment, for example, by closing the switchable seal 20. However, the filling process can also be carried out while the treatment chamber 2 is still open, for example, when the switchable seal 20 is not yet closed. The sealing of the treatment chamber 2 can also be carried out during the filling process.

[0045] A closer 5, which has a closing head 50, also operates in the treatment chamber 2, by means of which a container closure can be applied to the mouth 110 of the filled container 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the closing element 5 is one that can apply a crown cap closure to the mouth 110 of the container 100. For this purpose, the closing element 5 is moved into the treatment chamber 2 in the direction of movement Y of the closing element.

[0046] The closing element 5 and the filling element 4 are in the Figure 1 In the process status shown, they are arranged in such a way that they seal the openings through which they enter the treatment chamber 2. If the switchable seal 20 is also closed, the treatment chamber 2 is completely sealed from the environment, and no uncontrolled gas exchange with the environment takes place.

[0047] The treatment chamber 2 communicates with a compression gas valve 6 such that, when the compression gas valve 6 is opened, a compression gas can flow into the treatment chamber 2. The compression gas is present at the compression gas valve 6 at an absolute pressure of approximately 3 bar to 10 bar, so that when the compression gas valve 6 is open, the compression gas enters the treatment chamber 2 at this pressure. The compression gas can be, for example, CO2.

[0048] The treatment chamber 2 further communicates with a vacuum valve 7, so that when the vacuum valve is opened, a negative pressure present at the vacuum valve 7 acts on the treatment chamber 2. The negative pressure is present at the vacuum valve 7 at an absolute pressure of approximately 0.05 bar to 0.9 bar, so that when the vacuum valve 7 is open, the gas present in the treatment chamber 2 is drawn off through the vacuum valve 7 until the existing negative pressure is essentially reached in the treatment chamber 2.

[0049] In this context, vacuum is not understood to mean an absolute vacuum, but rather the provision of a negative pressure compared to the ambient pressure, by means of which the gas mixture present in the treatment chamber 2 can be extracted.

[0050] In a preferred embodiment, the control device 3 is configured such that, after sealing the treatment chamber 2, the vacuum valve 7 is first opened in order to remove the residual gas present in the treatment chamber 2, which is, for example, the ambient air still present after the insertion of the mouth 110 of the container 100, essentially to the negative pressure prevailing at the vacuum valve 7. At this point in time, the filling of the container 100 to be filled has preferably already been carried out, and the filling element 4 is arranged sealingly on the mouth 110 of the container 100.

[0051] Accordingly, the opening of the vacuum valve 7 by the control device 3 is preferably carried out after the sealing of the treatment chamber 2 and after the start of the filling process by the filling element 4.

[0052] After a predetermined time has elapsed, or when a predetermined pressure is present in the treatment chamber 2, for example, the negative pressure present at the vacuum valve 7, the vacuum valve 7 is closed and the compression gas valve 6 is opened via the control device 3. Compression gas, for example, CO2, flows into the treatment chamber 2, which is initially under negative pressure, at the pressure present at the compression gas valve 6, and pre-pressurizes it accordingly.

[0053] Accordingly, a gas mixture now exists in treatment chamber 2, which is composed of a reduced proportion of residual gas, namely the residual gas still present in treatment chamber 2 due to the negative pressure, and the compression gas volume supplied via compression gas valve 6. Accordingly, the oxygen content of the gas mixture present in treatment chamber 2 is significantly reduced compared to the initial situation.

[0054] The oxygen content in the described embodiment is also significantly reduced compared to a known embodiment in which the vacuum valve 7 is omitted and accordingly only compression gas is introduced into the treatment chamber 2 filled with air at ambient pressure.

[0055] Once the filling process with the filling element 4 is completed, the filling element 4 is withdrawn from the mouth 110 of the container 100 to be filled and withdrawn from the treatment chamber 2 in the direction of movement X. In this way, space is created for the lowering of the closing element 5, which then applies the container closure to the mouth 110 of the container 100, which at this time is filled with the filling product.

[0056] Since a gas mixture under compression pressure with a reduced oxygen content is present in the treatment chamber 2, the oxygen load of the filling product present in the container 100 is reduced, so that in this way a gentle filling of the filling product can be achieved.

[0057] The compression gas valve 6 preferably remains open during the withdrawal of the filling element 4 and the lowering of the closing element 5 in order to react to the volume changes of the treatment chamber 2 caused by the elements moving within the treatment chamber 2.

[0058] In a further embodiment of the device 1, a purge gas valve 8 is provided, which communicates with the treatment chamber 2 and through which a purge gas can be fed into the treatment chamber 2. The purge gas is present at the purge gas valve 8 at a lower pressure than the compression gas at the compression gas valve 6. The purge gas can, for example, be present at an absolute pressure of 1 bar to 2 bar. The purge gas can also preferably be CO2. The purge gas valve 8 is optional and not necessary for the previously described design of the control device 3.

[0059] In a further preferred embodiment, the control device 3 can be configured with the purge gas valve 8 such that, after the treatment chamber 2 has been sealed, the vacuum valve 7 is opened in order to bring the treatment chamber 2 to the negative pressure specified by the vacuum valve 7. The purge gas valve 8 is opened either simultaneously with the vacuum valve 7 or after a specified period of time has elapsed, or when a specified pressure is reached in the treatment chamber 2, in order to purge the treatment chamber 2 with the purge gas from the purge gas valve 8. In this way, residual gas can be effectively withdrawn from the treatment chamber 2 via the vacuum valve 7, and the remaining residual gas in the treatment chamber 2 is largely displaced from the treatment chamber 2 by the purge gas.

[0060] After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, or after purging with a predetermined purge gas volume, or after reaching a predetermined purge gas concentration in the treatment chamber 2, which can be measured, for example, at the vacuum valve 7, the vacuum valve 7 and the purge gas valve 8 are closed, and the compression gas valve 6 is opened. Accordingly, the compression gas then flows into the treatment chamber 2 via the compression gas valve 6, which at this point in time is already essentially filled with the purge gas and contains only a very small amount of residual gas. Since the purge gas and the compression gas can be, and preferably are, the same gas, for example CO2, the treatment chamber 2 is accordingly filled with the compression gas up to the predetermined or desired pressure.The compression gas which is then present in the treatment chamber 2 is accordingly largely pure and the residual gas content is very low.

[0061] In a further preferred embodiment of the control device 3, it is configured to evacuate the treatment chamber 2 via the vacuum valve 7 and then close the vacuum valve 7. The purge gas is then introduced into the treatment chamber 2 either via the optional purge gas valve 8, or the compression gas is introduced into the treatment chamber 2 via the compression gas valve 6. After that, the compression gas valve 6 or the purge gas valve 8 is closed again, and the vacuum valve 7 is opened again to draw off the gas mixture present in the treatment chamber 2 down to the predetermined negative pressure. This process can be repeated several times. In this way, the oxygen content in the gas mixture accommodated in the treatment chamber 2 can also be reduced by gradually diluting the residual gas in the treatment chamber 2.

[0062] After the filling element 4 has been retracted and the container closure has been placed in the low-oxygen compression gas atmosphere in the treatment chamber 2 by means of the closing element 5, the treatment chamber 2 can be relieved to ambient pressure again, the switchable seal 20 can be opened and the then filled and closed container 100 can be removed from the treatment chamber 2. List of reference symbols

[0063] 1Device for filling a container to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container 100Container to be filled 110Mouth 120Neck area 2Treatment chamber 20Switchable seal 3Control device 4Filling element 40Filling product outlet 42Mouth seal 5Closing element 50Closing head 6Compression gas valve 7Vacuum valve 8Purging gas valve XDirection of movement of the filling element YDirection of movement of the closing element

Claims

1. An apparatus (1) for filling a container (100) to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container (100) with a container closure, comprising a treatment chamber (2) for receiving in a sealing manner a mouth (110) of the container (100) to be filled, a filling member (4) for filling the container (100) received with the mouth (110) thereof in the treatment chamber (2), a closing member (5) for closing the container (100) received with the mouth (110) thereof in the treatment chamber (2), once it has been filled, with a container closure, and a compression gas valve (6), communicating with the treatment chamber (2), for introducing a compression gas into the treatment chamber (2), a vacuum valve (7), communicating with the treatment chamber (2), for establishing a negative pressure in the treatment chamber (2), and a control device (3) which is configured to open the vacuum valve (7), after sealing the treatment chamber (2) from the environment, in order to apply a negative pressure to the treatment chamber (2), characterized in that the control device (3) is configured to open or keep open the compression gas valve (6) during a movement of the filling member (4) and / or during a movement of the closing member (4).

2. The apparatus (1) according to claim 1, characterized by a purge gas valve (8), which is in communication with the treatment chamber (2), for introducing a purge gas into the treatment chamber (2), wherein the purge gas is preferably under a lower pressure than the compression gas.

3. The apparatus (1) according to either claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the treatment chamber (2) comprises a switchable seal (20) by means of which the mouth (110) of the container (100) can be switchably sealed against the environment, wherein the switchable seal (20) is preferably configured such that it acts on a neck region (120) of the container (100).

4. The apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (3) is configured to close the vacuum valve (7) before removing the filling member (4) from the mouth (110) of the container (100).

5. The apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims and claim 2, characterized in that the control device (3) is configured to open the purge gas valve (8), for introducing a purge gas into the treatment chamber (2), simultaneously with the vacuum valve (7) or after the vacuum valve (7) has been opened.

6. The apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device (3) is configured to open the compression gas valve (6) after the vacuum valve (7) has been closed, in order to supply the treatment chamber (2) with a compression gas.

7. The apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims and claim 2, characterized in that the control device (3) is configured to open the vacuum valve (7) and the purge gas valve (8) and, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed or after the treatment chamber (2) has been purged with a predetermined purge gas volume or when a predetermined purge gas concentration is reached in the treatment chamber (2) or at the vacuum valve (7), to close the vacuum valve (7) and the purge gas valve (8) and to open the compression gas valve (6).

8. The apparatus (1) according to any of the preceding claims and claim 2, characterized in that the control device (3) is configured, after opening the vacuum valve (7), to close the vacuum valve (7) again when a predetermined pressure is reached or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed and to open the purge gas valve (8) in order to fill the treatment chamber (2) with the purge gas, then to close the purge gas valve (8) again and to open the vacuum valve (7) again in order to lower the treatment chamber (2) to a predetermined negative pressure and then to close the vacuum valve (7) again and then to open the compression gas valve (6) again in order to pre-pressurize the treatment chamber (2) with the compression gas.

9. A method for filling a container (100) to be filled with a filling product and for closing the filled container (100) with a container closure, comprising receiving in a sealed manner a mouth (110) of the container (100) to be filled in a treatment chamber (2), filling the container (100) received in the treatment chamber (2) with its mouth (110) with the filling product by means of a filling element (4) applied in a sealed manner to the mouth (110), closing the container (100) received in the treatment chamber (2) with its mouth (110) after it has been filled with a container closure and introducing a compression gas into the treatment chamber (2) before removing the filling element (4) from the mouth (110), and establishing a negative pressure in the treatment chamber (2) before introducing the compression gas, characterized in that, during a movement of the filling member (4) and / or during a movement of a closing member (4), a compression gas valve (6) for introducing the compression gas into the treatment chamber (2) is opened or kept open.

10. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that a purge gas flows through the treatment chamber (2) before the compression gas is introduced into the treatment chamber (2).

11. The method according to claims 11 or 12, characterized in that, when a predetermined negative pressure is reached or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the establishment of the negative pressure is terminated and the treatment chamber (2) is filled with purge gas and a negative pressure is then established again in the treatment chamber (2), and the treatment chamber (2) is then pre-pressurized with the compression gas.

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