MACHINE AND METHOD FOR FILLING CONTAINERS TO A PREDETERMINED LEVEL

1469347 Filling containers with solids and liquids; packaging; turning conveyed articles SOLBERN CORP 2 July 1974 [9 July 1973] 29343/74 Headings B8T B8C and B8A A filling machine comprises a conveyer support member 94 for conveying containers 21 in a linear path below a material delivery chute 63 and means for filling and agitating the containers to pack the material closely and eject excess material, the tilting means comprising remotely controlled container guides which are rotated about an axis coincident with the conveyer support member longitudinal axis to an angle corresponding to a preselected fill level. Guide rails 29 and 30 guide the containers 21 on the conveyer support member 94 and arcshaped yokes 89 and 90 are joined to the guide rail supports 86 and 87 and are releasably held in clamps 93 which are operated by pressurized air piston-in-cylinder devices. A shaft 98 is connected through crank and link arrangements to the yokes 89 and 90 such that, when the clamps 93 are released, turning the handle 105 adjusts the tilt of the yokes and hence the containers on the conveyer support member 94 (Fig. 7). A hollow shaft 99, concentric with shaft 98 and connected to the yoke assembly, is arranged to agitate the containers by means of a crank arm 110 connected through a rod 111 and a stub journal 120 to an eccentric drive member 112 operated by a variable speed reduction unit. The bar 119 is moved in groove 118 and held in position by screws 122, thus enabling the eccentricity of drive member 112, and hence the shaking amplitude of the containers, to be adjusted (Fig. 10). The material delivery means comprises a rotatable open-ended drum 36 with its rotation axis parallel to the linear path of the containers and with a plurality of shelves 46 arranged around the inside of the drum with their concave surfaces facing the direction of drum rotation. Pivoted wedge-shaped gates 47 engage with the shelves 46 to form buckets in which material is raised from a reservoir and then discharged on to the shaker pan assembly 62. The opening and closing of the gates is controlled by cam followers attached to the shafts 49, which support the gates, and engaged in a stationary cam track arranged at one end of the drum, the cam track being adjustable to vary the material discharge location. The shaker pan assembly 62 is adjustably supported to provide an infinite number of horizontal, vertical and angular settings of the chute 63 corresponding to the variable material