Filling Head Seal Design for Hygienic Liquid Carbonation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid filling and carbonation systems face challenges such as contamination risks from air pumps, inefficient CO2 consumption, high manufacturing costs, and complex tank refilling processes, particularly in home soda machines.
Innovation Solution
A filling head with a seal that allows for both negative and positive pressure sealing, using a cover plate with a liquid inlet, gas outlet, and gas inlet ports, and a seal with elastic movement to create a pressure-proof seal, enabling efficient liquid filling and carbonation without direct liquid contact, using a suction pump for underpressure and a pressure supply unit for overpressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an air pump is used to pressurize water in the tank, then the liquid can be conveyed into the bottle, but contamination risk increases due to aerosols and particles from cooking being sucked into the system
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the air pump component from the system entirely. Instead of using an air pump to pressurize water, the system relies on the CO2 cylinder to provide both pressurization and carbonation functions, thereby eliminating the contamination source while maintaining liquid conveyance capability
Solution Approach 2:
The CO2 cylinder is designed to serve multiple functions: it not only provides CO2 for carbonation but also acts as the pressurization source for conveying liquid into bottles. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for a separate air pump, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and contamination risk
2Object-affected harmful factors
If CO2 is used for pressurizing the water tank to convey water to the container, then contamination risk is avoided, but CO2 consumption increases resulting in earlier emptying of the CO2 cylinder
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies CO2 pressurization locally and temporarily - the CO2 cylinder pressurizes the water tank only during the filling operation, then releases. This localized, intermittent use of CO2 for pressurization significantly reduces overall CO2 consumption compared to continuous pressurization systems, while maintaining the contamination-free benefit
3Reliability
If a seal with elastic movement is used for pressure-proof sealing, then effective sealing at varying pressures is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is designed with elastic movement capability, allowing it to dynamically adapt its position and shape in response to varying pressure conditions during filling and carbonation operations. This dynamic design maintains reliable sealing without requiring multiple separate sealing components, thus balancing sealing effectiveness with acceptable device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Ensures hygienic liquid filling and carbonation with reduced contamination risk, efficient CO2 use, and simplified tank refilling, while maintaining effective sealing at varying pressures.
Implementation Method 1
the seal comprises a first surface fixed to the cover plate and a second surface elastically movable relative to the cover plate
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention refers to an apparatus (1) for filling a liquid into a removable container (100) and for enriching said liquid inside said removable container (100) with gas, e.g. by carbonating. The invention further refers to a method for filling liquid into a container (100) and/or enriching the liquid with a gas. The apparatus comprises a filling head (10) with a cover plate (11) for closing an opening (101) of the container (100), having a liquid inlet port (14), a gas outlet port (12) and a gas inlet port (13), and a seal (19) for sealing the cover plate (11) with respect to the opening (101) of the container (100). The seal comprises a first surface (21) fixed to the cover plate (11) and a second surface (20) elastically movable relative to the cover plate (11). The apparatus (1) further comprises a suction pump connected to the gas outlet port (12), a pressure supply unit connectable to the gas inlet port (13), a tank to be filled with liquid and connectable to the liquid inlet port(14), and a control unit configured to operate the suction pump to lower a gas pressure inside said removable container (100) below a gas pressure acting on the liquid inside the tank.