Container fill station

US11738981B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Wild Goose Canning Technologies, LLC · US

Inventors

• Michael N. Mercier · Nashua, US
• Alexis Stuart Foreman · Boulder, US
• Paul Wells · Edgewood, US
• Dan Moody · Louisville, US
• Adam McKim · Louisville, US
• Josh Halvorsen · Louisville, US
• Jace Pivonka · Louisville, US
• John Bickers · Louisville, US
• Tyler Nickerson · Mason, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 16, 2021
• Grant date: Aug 29, 2023
• Expiry date: Nov 16, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B67C2003/2657
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A container fill station includes a seal bar configured to temporarily contact an open end of a container, to temporarily seal an interior of the container from a surrounding atmosphere, a fill head configured to be moved by a fill head actuator through a sealed opening in the seal bar, a fill head valve located in a fluid pathway between a liquid source and the fill head outlet, and an outflowing gas valve in fluid communication with the interior of the container. Therein, control of a liquid fill rate is provided by opening the outflowing gas valve a select amount while simultaneously opening the fill head valve. During a filling operation method, the interior of the container may be temporarily sealed and pressurized, or filling may be done at ambient/atmospheric pressure, preferably with the fill head outlet being disposed below the liquid's surface during filling.