ABFUELLAPPARAT

A filling machine for filling open top containers with pressurized liquid, especially carbonated liquid, or liquid which readily foams, having rotary turret mounting filling valve assemblies, each of which includes a cylinder with its foot valve and a piston with its plug valve, as generally known in the art. Before filling starts, a measured charge is trapped in a measuring chamber. Each foot valve is provided with a perforate wall exposed to atmosphere on its underside, and a flexible diaphragm overlies the perforated all and is exposed to the filling charge. At the start of the container filling operation, the foot valve is moved downward, while in sealed relation with the cylinder, to first deblock the plug valve and then decompress the measured charge. The foot valve remains sealed with the cylinder after deblocking and decompression, hence continued downward movement of the valve to its open position further enlarges the measuring chamber which would normally draw a vacuum in the chamber so that when the foot valve opened, air bubbles would be drawn up into the charge and cause foaming problems. However, the flexible diaphragm is distended upwardly under atmospheric pressure. This prevents further enlargement of the measuring chamber, no vacuum is drawn therein and air bubbles are not drawn up into the measured charge when filling begins.