Beverage Filling Valve Carrier Decoupling Pressing Forces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage filling devices face inefficiencies due to the need for large, costly designs to manage lifting and pressing forces, leading to reduced throughput and increased manufacturing costs, as well as unfavorable force distribution and torque during container filling.
Innovation Solution
A device with a carrier bolt and a filling member where the filling valve and container holder are directly attached, allowing for height-adjustable connection to a transport device, decoupling the transport system from pressing forces and enabling efficient force absorption within the carrier bolt, thus reducing the need for massive construction and maintaining consistent filling behavior.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the container is lifted towards a fixed-height filling valve, then the filling operation can be performed, but the device requires large size and robust design to withstand fluctuating force loads, increasing manufacturing and operating costs
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of lifting the container to a fixed-height filling valve, the invention inverts the approach by moving the filling valve together with the container holder at the same height. This eliminates relative vertical movement between filling components and the container, transforming the force load from fluctuating to constant, thereby reducing the required device robustness and size while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The filling valve is merged with the container holder assembly, forming a unified moving unit. This combination ensures that both components move together at the same height, eliminating differential movement and the associated fluctuating forces that would require robust structural design
2Ease of manufacture
If the filling valves and clamps are attached to the valve carrier at different positions, then the filling function is achieved, but unfavorable force and moment distribution occurs, generating bending moments that require robust design of filling valves, valve carriers, and container brackets
Solution Approach 1:
The filling valve and container holder are merged into a single integrated assembly attached to the support bolt. This merging ensures that filling forces act directly through the support bolt axis, eliminating bending moments and unfavorable force distributions that would occur with separate attachments at different positions
3Ease of operation
If the container holder is lowered before moving into the outfeed star wheel clamp area, then the transfer operation can be performed, but the operating angle is reduced, negatively impacting throughput
Solution Approach 1:
The container holder maintains a constant height throughout the filling and transfer operations, creating an equipotential condition that eliminates the need for lowering movements. This allows the container to be transferred directly to the outfeed star wheel clamp without reducing the operating angle, thereby maintaining high throughput while ensuring ease of operation
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device (1) for filling a container with a product to be filled, preferably for filling a container in a beverage-filling plant, comprising a support bolt (2), a filling element (3), which is fastened to the support bolt (2) and comprises a fill valve (30) which can be moved, relative to the support bolt (2), along a longitudinal axis (32) of the filling element (3), and a container holder (4), which is rigidly fastened underneath the fill valve (30) to the support bolt (2), for holding a container to be filled, a connecting device (5) being provided on a transport device, preferably on a valve support (104), of a filling device (100) in a beverage-filling plant, for height-adjustable connection of the support bolt (2).