Fill system including a valve assembly and corresponding structure for reducing the mixing of product and air during container filling

摘要

A filling system for filling a container is set forth. The container to be filled has a bottom portion and a plurality of sidewalls defining a container cross-section. The filling system comprises a fill pipe having a product inlet and a product outlet, a valve rod disposed in the fill pipe, a flexible outlet extension, and an umbrella-shaped sealing member having a bottom portion. The valve rod and the sealing member are movable between a first position in which the sealing member engages and seals the product outlet and a second position in which the sealing member is disengaged from the product outlet. The bottom portion of the sealing member is preferably shaped to conform to the interior bottom portion of the container. The flexible outlet extension extends from the product outlet and is dimensioned to engage and conform to the sidewalls of the container during filling thereby to inhibit mixing of product and air during the filling cycle. Additionally, the bottom portion of the sealing member may be used to engage the bottom of the container to assist in displacing air from a sealing region defined by the flexible outlet extension and the walls of the container.