Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Filling or refilling of dispensers – Coating-implement-type receiver
Patent
1998-11-16
2000-09-12
Douglas, Steven O.
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Filling or refilling of dispensers
Coating-implement-type receiver
141351, 141364, B65B 104
Patent
active
061162965
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a filling apparatus for the filling of refillable aerosol packages, as defined in the claims.
From international patent application WO 92/12912, a refillable aerosol package is known which consists of a pressure resistant cylindrical shell and an elastic or flexible container deformable by pressure, sealed against the edges of an aperture in the cover of the shell by means of a plug provided with a push valve as used in aerosol packages. The elastic or flexible container divides the interior of the aerosol package into two spaces hermetically sealed from each other, the space inside the flexible container being filled with a liquid of a suitable viscosity while the space between the container and the shell of the package is filled with a propellant gas.
Such an aerosol package is very favorable in respect of environmental protection as it does not release any emissions into the environment and the package can be reused hundreds of times, so it can be said that a package once bought is everlasting. The only problem with the package is its refilling. At present, containers are refilled using compressed air by pumping them full, but this is a slow and inaccurate filling method because measuring the volume of liquid pumped into the package or the pressure in the package with sufficient accuracy during the filling operation is difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned above. A specific object of the invention is to present a new type of filling apparatus enabling refillable aerosol packages to be quickly and accurately refilled.
As for the features characteristic of the invention, reference is made to the claims.
The filling apparatus of the invention for the filling of refillable aerosol packages comprises a liquid container with a flow channel leading from the container via a pump into a nozzle which can be set into the valve of an aerosol package to open the valve and to transfer liquid into the liquid space of the aerosol package. The pump is connected to a power means, which preferably consists of an electric motor, for rotating the pump. According to the invention, the filling apparatus comprises a control unit controlling the apparatus, to which control unit is connected, besides the power means, a controlled valve placed in the flow channel just before the nozzle. In addition, according to the invention, connected to the control unit is also a flow meter placed between the pump and the valve for measuring the volume flow in the flow channel. Further, connected to the control unit is a starter for starting the filling procedure, i.e. rotation of the pump and opening of the controlled valve. Also, according to the invention, the flow channel is provided with a flow restrictor designed to prevent excessive flow especially at the initial stage of the filling process and to prevent a pressure drop on the delivery side, in other words, the pressure on the delivery side is kept at a sufficiently high and uniform level to allow a sufficiently accurate flow measurement.
The pump used is preferably a positive-displacement pump such as a geared pump, but it is also possible to use a suitable centrifugal pump.
The flow channel is preferably provided with a check valve to prevent a fall of pressure in the flow meter area when the pump stops. It is also possible to place the check valve in the pump, which means using a pump so constructed that it works in itself as a check valve.
The flow restrictor used in the filling apparatus of the invention may be e.g. a suitable throttling device which enables the liquid flow and at the same time the pressure drop in the flow meter area at the initial stage of the filling process to be kept within desired limits. Preferably the throttling device is one that works on a mechanical operating principle, in other words, the throttling device is not connected to the control unit of the apparatus but, once properly adjusted, works with sufficient accur
REFERENCES:
patent: 4285372 (1981-08-01), Kieber
patent: 5092750 (1992-03-01), Leroy et al.
patent: 5645113 (1997-07-01), Humm et al.
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