EP3498659B1 - Method and device for filling a fill product - Google Patents

Description

technical field

The present invention relates to a method and a device for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method.

Technical background

Methods and devices for free-jet filling of beverages are known, in which a volume flow of the beverage is enabled and interrupted by opening and closing a filling valve. A container to be filled is located at a distance from a filling product outlet below the filling valve, so that when the filling valve is open, the beverage can flow freely through a container opening of the container into the container. If the container is filled with the drink, the filling valve is closed and the flow of filling product is interrupted as a result. In this context, it is known to determine the quantity of filled filling product by means of a flow meter assigned to the filling valve.

In order to be able to achieve the most accurate filling result possible, the filling valve is closed at high speed. When the filling valve is closed, the cross section available to the filling product in the filling valve is successively reduced, usually by moving a first valve surface, preferably a valve cone, relative to a second valve surface, preferably a valve seat, towards the second valve surface. Due to the narrowing of the cross section, the filling product located in the filling valve undergoes additional acceleration, as a result of which the free jet breaks off and filling product can squirt, in particular laterally. On the one hand, this results in a loss of filling product. In addition, as a result, filling product reaches the outside of the container to be filled and/or parts of the system.

Furthermore, the rapid closing of the filling valve can lead to pressure surges in the filling element or in a line conducting the filling product to the filling valve, since the filling product is also accelerated against the actual filling flow direction when it is closed. These pressure shocks or their energy must be compensated. In particular, if gas bubbles are contained in the line, these can have a resilient effect due to their compressibility, so that vibrations occur in the line. These oscillations can be detected by the flow meter and interpreted as the quantity that has flowed through, which can lead to errors in determining the quantity of the filled filling product.

Furthermore, it is known to control the volume flow of the beverage to the filling valve by means of a control valve upstream of the filling valve. In this way, different filling profiles can be run depending on the filling product and the container to be filled.

In this context, it is also known to control the filling valve and the control valve at the same time in order to interrupt the filling product volume flow. During the closing of the control valve, the volume flow reaching the filling valve decreases, so that less filling product then flows through the filling valve during the closing of the filling valve and thus less filling product is additionally displaced or additionally accelerated when the filling valve is closed. However, the control valve usually has a different closing time than the filling valve. If the filling valve reaches the completely closed position before the control valve, the above-mentioned pressure surge and the filling product can splatter. If the control valve is in the completely closed position before the filling valve, air can enter the filling valve and the jet can break off.

The DE 10 2014 117 831 A1 describes a method and a device for filling a container with a filling product according to the preambles of claims 1 and 7. The EP 2 942 289 A1 describes a device and a method for filling flexible containers.

Presentation of the invention

Proceeding from the known prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method, and a corresponding device.

The object is achieved by a method for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method, with the features of Claim 1 solved. Advantageous developments of the method result from the dependent claims and the present description and the figures.

Accordingly, a method for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method, is proposed, comprising providing a filling product flow through a filling product line by opening a filling valve arranged in the filling product line and an associated control valve for controlling a volume flow, and closing it of the control valve and closing of the fill valve to stop the flow of fill product at the end of fill. According to the invention, the control valve and the filling valve are closed in a synchronized manner.

In other words, the control valve and the filling valve are controlled in such a way that the control valve and the filling valve move into the closed position essentially at the same time or in a fixed time relationship and preferably only with a small time offset.

Due to the fact that the control valve and the filling valve are closed in a synchronized manner, an essentially ideal jet constriction of the jet of the filling product emerging from the filling valve can be achieved. Due to the closing of the filling valve, a successively decreasing passage cross section is available at the filling valve for the volume flow of filling product, which is decreasing due to the closing control valve, so that the flow rate through the filling valve can essentially be maintained. As a result of the synchronized closing, the volume flow to the filling valve is essentially prevented or only marginally at the point in time at which the filling valve reaches the closed position. Consequently, a spattering caused by an acceleration of this filling product flowing through when the filling valve is closed can be essentially avoided. As a result, the filling valve can be closed at high speed while pressure shocks in the filling product and splashing and/or uncontrolled tearing off of the flow or jet of filling product can be reduced or even avoided altogether. Accurate and clean filling can therefore be achieved by the synchronized closing of the filling valve and control valve.

According to a preferred embodiment of the method, the control valve and the filling valve are controlled with an offset time. This can ensure that the control valve and the filling valve move to the closed position synchronously, even if they have different closing speeds. Consequently, particularly precise and clean filling can be achieved as a result.

According to the invention, the closing of the control valve is triggered by a first control command from a controller and the closing of the filling valve is triggered by a second control command from the controller, the second control command being triggered with a delay in time from the first control command by the offset time. As a result, a particularly precise, synchronized closing is possible. The second control command can be triggered by the offset time after the first control command or by the offset time before the first control command, depending on whether the control valve has a longer closing time or a shorter closing time than the filling valve. The second control command is preferably triggered by the offset time after the first control command.

In order to enable the synchronized closing of the control valve and filling valve particularly precisely, without having to intervene in the other parameters of the controller, the individual offset time is determined according to a preferred embodiment, with the offset time preferably being the difference between a closing time of the control valve and a closing time of the Filling valve is determined.

This makes it possible to take account of the respective pairs of control valve and filling valve installed in a device and/or system for the offset time. Consequently, the offset time can be provided particularly precisely. In particular, if a plurality of pairs of control valve and filling valve are provided in the device and/or system, in which the individual pairs have different activation times and delay times due to the structure of the device and/or system, one can be used for each pair or each pairing corresponding offset time can be provided particularly precisely in a simple manner.

A particularly simple and precise determination of the offset time, in particular taking into account the components that are present in any case in a device and/or system having the filling valve and the control valve, can be achieved according to a further preferred embodiment in that the offset time is based on a flow measurement of the filling product in of the filling product line is determined, with the closing time of the filling valve being determined on the basis of the flow measurement.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the closing time of the filling valve is determined based on a change in the flow over time, ie a first derivation of the flow over time. As a result, the closing time can be determined particularly precisely.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the closing time of the filling valve is determined in relation to a minimum, preferably a first minimum, of the change in flow over time that follows the triggering of the second control command, the closing time of the filling valve being defined as a period of time between the triggering of the second control command and the time when the minimum occurs. Due to the rapid decrease in flow when the filling valve is closed, a clear minimum arises in the course of the change in flow over time, which can be measured in a simple manner and reliably. Furthermore, a time offset between the occurrence of the minimum and the point in time at which the filling valve reaches the closed position is marginal. Accordingly, an almost ideal synchronization of the closing of the control valve and the filling valve can be achieved in a simple manner without intervention in the process parameters for the remaining control/regulation of the device or system. This measurement is preferably carried out with the control valve kept unchanged and particularly preferably with the control valve fully open.

If, according to a further preferred embodiment, with a plurality of pairs of control valve and filling valve provided, the associated offset time is determined individually for each individual pair of control valve and filling valve of the provided plurality of pairs of control valve and filling valve, synchronized closing for each the plurality of control valve and inflation valve pairs are provided.

The control valve preferably switches to control the volume flow between at least two different volume flows. For example between a higher and a lower volume flow or between a volume flow and no volume flow. In other words, the control valve can also be designed as a simple switching valve.

The control valve for controlling the volume flow preferably switches between more than two different volume flows.

The control valve of the volume flow particularly preferably switches steplessly, the control valve particularly preferably setting the volume flow proportionally and being able to be designed as a proportional valve.

The object set above is also achieved by a device for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method, with the features of claim 7 . Advantageous developments result from the dependent claims, the description and the figures.

Accordingly, a device for bottling a filling product, preferably for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet process, is proposed, comprising a filling valve arranged at the end of a filling product line for opening and closing the filling product line and a control valve upstream of the filling valve for controlling a volume flow of the filling product to the filling valve . According to the invention, a controller is provided which is set up to close the control valve and the filling valve in a synchronized manner.

The advantages and effects described with regard to the method can be achieved analogously by the device.

Furthermore, a flow meter is preferably provided for measuring the flow or the volume flow of the filling product to the filling valve or to the control valve.

In the device and in the method described above, the control valve is preferably a proportional valve, which can be positioned in a controlled manner via a corresponding control. In other words, the controller can specify a specific stroke position for the proportional valve, and this moves to this stroke position in a defined and reliable manner. A proportional valve can have a stepping motor as an actuator, for example, so that a precise and reproducible control of a desired stroke position is possible.

The control valve can also be a switching valve, by means of which it is possible to switch between at least two different volume flows. For example, the control valve can also be switched between an open position with a first volume flow and a closed position in which no volume flow flows through the control valve. The control valve can preferably switch between a number of different volume flows in order to regulate the volume flow.

In the device and in the method described above, the filling valve is preferably designed in the form of a simple switching valve, which can be designed, for example, as a seat valve. The filling valve is moved from a fully closed position to a fully open position and vice versa by means of an appropriate actuator, for example a pneumatic actuator. Intermediate positions are not possible.

Furthermore, at the end of the filling product line or the filling valve, a filling product outlet is preferably provided for letting out filling product, preferably in a free jet.

According to the invention, the controller is set up to activate the control valve and the filling valve with a time offset by an offset time.

According to the invention, the controller is set up to output a first control command to close the control valve and to output a second control command to close the filling valve, offset in time with respect to the first control command.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the controller is set up to determine the offset time, the offset time preferably being determined from the difference between a closing time of the control valve and a closing time of the filling valve.

According to a further preferred embodiment, a flow meter is assigned to the filling valve and the control valve, with the controller being set up to determine the offset time based on a flow measurement of the flow of the filling product through the filling product line, the closing time of the filling valve being determined on the basis of the flow measurement.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the controller is set up to determine the closing time of the filling valve based on a change in the flow rate over time.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the controller is set up to determine the closing time of the filling valve in relation to a minimum, preferably a first minimum, of the change over time in the flow rate measured by means of a flow meter, which follows the triggering of the second control command, the closing time of the filling valve being defined is as a time period between the triggering of the second control command and the point in time at which the minimum occurs. This measurement of the flow and the determination of the closing time of the filling valve is preferably carried out when the control valve is not moving and particularly preferably when the control valve is fully open.

According to a further preferred embodiment, a plurality of pairs consisting of a filling valve and a control valve assigned to it are provided, with the associated offset time preferably being determined individually for each individual pair of control valve and filling valve.

Brief description of the figures

Figur 1

schematisch eine Seitenansicht einer Vorrichtung zum Abfüllen eines Füllprodukts;

Figur 2

schematisch eine Draufsicht der Vorrichtung aus Figur 1;

Figur 3

schematisch ein Schaltdiagramm eines Teiles eines Verfahrens zum Steuern der Vorrichtung aus den Figuren 1 und 2;

Figur 4

schematisch eine graphische Darstellung eines Durchflusses über die Zeit; und

Figur 5

schematisch eine graphische Darstellung des Durchflusses aus Figur 4 und dessen Ableitung über die Zeit.

Preferred further embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail by the following description of the figures. show:

figure 1

schematically a side view of a device for filling a filling product;

figure 2

schematically shows a plan view of the device figure 1 ;

figure 3

schematically shows a circuit diagram of part of a method for controlling the device from FIGS figures 1 and 2 ;

figure 4

schematically a graphical representation of a flow rate over time; and

figure 5

schematically shows a graphic representation of the flow figure 4 and its derivative over time.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

Preferred exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to the figures. Elements that are the same, similar or have the same effect are provided with identical reference symbols in the different figures, and a repeated description of these elements is sometimes dispensed with in order to avoid redundancies.

In figure 1 a side view of a device 1 for filling a filling product is shown schematically. The device 1 shown here can be used in particular for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method. The device 1 has a filling valve 3 arranged at the end of a filling product line 5 for opening and closing the filling product line 5 and a control valve 2 upstream of the filling valve 3 for controlling a volume flow of the filling product to the filling valve 3 . Furthermore, a flow meter 4 is provided on the filling product line 5 for determining a flow rate or volume flow of filling product through the filling product line 5 .

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the filling valve 3 is in the form of a pneumatically operated filling valve 3 . To drive the pneumatically operated filling valve 3 , tubing 6 is provided, by means of which pneumatic air can be supplied to the filling valve 3 in order to switch the filling valve 3 accordingly.

The flow meter 4 is arranged upstream of the control valve 2 . In other words, the control valve 2 is arranged between the flow meter 4 and the filling valve 3 .

At the end of the filling product line 5 or the filling valve 3, a filling product outlet 10 is provided, from which filling product to be filled can emerge in free flow.

The filling valve 3 and the control valve 2 assigned to it together form a pair 7 of filling valve 3 and control valve 2 . Each pair 7 can have its own flow meter 4 assigned to it.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the control valve 2 is designed in such a way that it can switch steplessly. The control valve 2 is designed here as a proportional valve.

In an alternative embodiment, the control valve 2 for controlling the volume flow can also switch between at least two different volume flows. For example, the control valve 2 can switch between a higher and a lower volume flow or between a volume flow and no volume flow at all. In other words, the control valve 2 can also be designed as a simple switching valve.

However, the control valve 2 preferably switches to control the volume flow between more than two different volume flows. figure 2 shows a schematic top view of a filler carousel of the device 1 figure 1 in an overall view. On the circumference of the filler carousel there are a large number of pairs 7 consisting of filling valve 3 and control valve 2, as in figure 1 arranged so as to produce a continuous flow of filled containers.

The device 1 also has a controller 8 which is in communication via connections 9 with the individual pairs 7 made up of the filling valve 3 and the control valve 2 . The controller 8 is set up to close the control valve 2 and the filling valve 3 of each pair 7 in a synchronized manner.

In the following, with reference to the device according to the figures 1 and 2 describes a method for filling a filling product. The method presented here can be used in particular for bottling a beverage in a beverage bottling plant using the free jet method. The method is here by means of Figures 3 to 5 illustrated.

figure 3 FIG. 12 schematically shows a circuit diagram of part of the method for controlling the device 1 of FIGS figures 1 and 2 . In figure 3 shows a control valve lift curve 12, a first control signal 13 for specifying the lift of the control valve 12, a valve cone lift curve 14 of a valve cone of the filling valve 3 and a second control signal 16 for specifying the switching of the valve cone of the filling valve 3 over time.

The filling valve 3 is preferably designed in the form of a simple switching valve, which can be designed as a seat valve, for example. The filling valve 3 is moved from a fully closed position to a fully open position and vice versa by means of a corresponding actuator, for example a pneumatic actuator. However, intermediate positions are not possible.

The control valve 2 is preferably a proportional valve which can be positioned in a controlled manner via a corresponding control. In other words, the controller can specify a specific stroke position for the proportional valve, and this moves to this stroke position in a defined and reliable manner. A proportional valve can have a stepping motor as an actuator, for example, so that a precise and reproducible control of a desired stroke position is possible.

Reference number 120 indicates an open position of control valve 2 . In the open position 120 of the control valve 2 a maximum possible volume flow of the filling product to be filled can flow in the direction of the filling valve 3 . In the closed position indicated by reference number 122, the volume flow to the filling valve 3 is prevented. The reference number 130 indicates an "open" signal position specified by the controller 8, via which a predetermined stroke of the control valve 2 can be controlled or adjusted, and the reference number 132 indicates a "closed" signal position of the first control signal 13.

Accordingly, intermediate positions between the open position 120 and the closed position 122 can also be controlled in the control valve 2 . The ramp of the first control signal 13 is followed by the position of the control valve between the open position 120 and the closed position 122. The indicated ramp of the position and the ramp of the control signal 13 run synchronously.

How figure 3 can be seen, the control signal 13 is triggered at a time T ₁ by the controller 1, which causes the control valve 2 to close. The control valve 2 thereby moves successively along the ramp from the open position 120 to the closed position 122, which it reaches at time T ₃ . The control valve 2 therefore has a closing time t _R which corresponds to the period from time T ₁ to time T ₃ . This closing time depends on the control and cannot be arbitrarily accelerated due to the construction of the control valve 2. In other words, the closing time of the controller is known.

Furthermore, reference number 140 indicates an open position of filling valve 3 . In the open position 140 the valve cone of the filling valve 3 is in a raised position, so that there is a maximum flow cross-section in the filling valve 3 . In the closed position indicated by the reference number 142, the volume flow through the filling valve 3 is interrupted. Reference number 160 indicates an "open" signal position specified by controller 8 and reference number 162 indicates a "closed" signal position of second control signal 16 . The filling valve 3 can only assume the open or the closed position - intermediate positions are not possible due to the structure of the filling valve 3.

If, as indicated by the reference numeral 16', the second control signal is triggered at the same time as the first control signal 13, the valve cone of the filling valve 3 moves along the curve indicated by the reference mark 14' into the closed position 142. The filling valve 3 needs to move from the open position 140 to get to the closed position 142, the closing time t _F . Since the closing time t _F of the filling valve 3 is shorter than the closing time t _R of the control valve 2, the filling valve 3 already reaches the closed position 142 when the control valve 2 is not yet closed. This can result in pressure surges induced by the closing of the filling valve 3 in the filling product line 5 and thus oscillations of the filling product in the filling product line 5, which can be incorrectly interpreted by the flow meter 4 as an additional flow.

The pressure surges can be prevented if the second control signal is triggered at time T ₃ after the control valve 2 has reached the closed position 122, as indicated by reference numeral 16''. The filling valve 3 consequently only begins then, as indicated by reference number 14''. indicated to approach the closed position 142. As a result, however, due to the filling valve 3 then being opened and the control valve 2 being closed at the same time, through which no counter-pressure can be provided on the filling product, air from the environment can get into the filling product line 5 .

In order to improve this behavior, the control valve 2 and the filling valve 3 are closed synchronously. In the present exemplary embodiment, the filling valve 3 and the control valve 2 reach the closed position 122 or 142 essentially at the same time T ₃ . The control signal 16 is therefore triggered by the closing time t _F before the time T ₃ , referred to here as the time T ₂ . With others In other words, the control valve 2 and the filling valve 3 are controlled with an offset time t _V , the closing of the control valve 2 being triggered by the first control command 13 at time T ₁ and the closing of the filling valve 2 being triggered by the second control command 16 at time T ₂ is triggered, the second control command 16 being offset in time by the offset time t _V relative to the first control command 13 .

In the present case, the filling valve 3 is switched between the open position 140 and the closed position 142 by a control circuit. The speed, and therefore the closing time t _{F ,} is consequently not regulated by the controller. In addition, the closing times differ between the individual pairs 7 of the device 1.

In order to be able to provide a synchronized closing according to the reference symbols 12 and 14 of each pair 7, the offset time t _V is determined for each pair. In the present case, the offset time t _V is determined from the difference between the closing time t _R of the control valve 2 and the closing time t _F of the filling valve 3. The closing time t _F of the filling valve 3 is determined for this using the flow measurement.

For this purpose, the controller 8 determines a change over time in the flow rate measured by the flow meter 4 through the filling product line 5. For this purpose, the actual filling of the filling product in regular operation, in which filling product is filled into containers to be filled, is preceded by the flow rate during a closing process of the filling valve 3 is determined.

figure 4 a graphic representation of the measured flow rate 18 in ml/s of the filling product over the time in seconds for one of the filling valves 3 of the device 1 is shown schematically and by way of example, determined by the controller 8 . The control valve 2 is held in a predetermined open switching position over the entire measuring range shown.

The second control signal, which actuates the filling valve 3 , is again indicated by the reference number 16 . In the beginning of the measuring range shown, the filling valve 3 is held in the open position, as indicated by reference number 160 . The flow 18 here corresponds to the flow in a filling phase 180. At the time T _S the second control command 16 for switching the filling valve 3 to the closed position 162 is issued. How out figure 4 Immediately apparent, the reaction in the sense of a change in flow 18 takes place with a time delay, in this exemplary embodiment by approximately 0.4 seconds, referred to here by reference numeral 182 as the closing phase. This delay is due to the construction associated inertia of the actuator of the filling valve 3 and the used and bottled media instead.

Following the closing phase 182 there is a decreasing, oscillating volume flow which is essentially caused by the oscillations in the filling product generated by the closing of the filling valve 3 and which is interpreted by the flow meter 4 as flow 18 . Consequently, the transition 186 between the closing phase 182 and the oscillation phase 184 represents the point in time T _G when the closed position is reached.

figure 5 FIG. 12 schematically shows the graphic representation of the flow rate 18. FIG figure 4 and its derivative 20 (calculated in the controller 8) over time. Like right away figure 5 As can be seen, a clear, characteristic minimum 22 of the derivative 20 forms marginally shortly before the closing time T _G is reached. This clear minimum 22 of the derivative 20 is detected by the controller 8 and the time T _M is assigned to it by the controller 8 as the time at which the minimum 22 occurs.

The closing time t _F of the filling valve 3, which the filling valve 3 requires after the triggering of the control command 16 in order to reach the closed position, is now determined in relation to this minimum 22 of the time derivative 20 of the flow rate, which follows the triggering of the second control command 16 18. Here, the closing time t _F is defined as the length of time between the triggering of the second control command 16 at the point in time T _S and the point in time T _M at which the first minimum 22 of the derivation of the flow 18 over time occurs.

Consequently, the determined and defined closing time t _F is an approximation of the actual closing time, which corresponds to the time span between the times T _S and T _G .

The offset time t _V , with which the second control command 16 is triggered after the first control command 13 with a time delay, is determined by the controller 8 from the difference between the closing time t _R of the control valve 2 and the closing time t _F of the filling valve 3 determined and defined by the controller 8, consequently as t _V = t _R - t _F .

In order to determine the closing time t _F of each filling valve 3 of device 3 or the offset time t _V of each pair 7 of filling valve and control valve 2 of device 3, the aforementioned method is used for each individual pair 7 of control valve 2 and filling valve 3 of the provided plurality of pairs 7 determined individually. In order to keep the time required for this as short as possible, the determination by the controller 8 can be carried out at least partially in parallel take place. This can also be determined for each filling product with its respective individual viscosity and temperature.

Reference List

1

contraption

2

control valve

3

filling valve

4

flow meter

5

filling product supply

6

Tubing

7

Pair

8th

steering

9

Connection

10

fill product outlet

12

Control valve lift curve

120

Open position

122

closed position

13

First control signal

14

poppet lift curve

140

Open position

142

closed position

16

Second control signal

160

signal position "open"

162

signal position "closed"

18

flow

180

filling phase

182

closing phase

184

oscillation phase

186

crossing

20

derivation

22

minimum

tF

Fill valve closing time

tR

Closing time control valve

tv

offset time

TR

Control command trigger time

TM

time of the minimum

TS

switching time

TG

closing time

Claims (13)

1. Method for filling a fill product, preferably for filling a beverage in a beverage filling plant by the free-jet method, comprising

   providing a fill product flow through a fill product line (5) by opening a filling valve (3) arranged in the fill product line (5) and an associated control valve (2) for controlling volumetric flow, and

   closing the control valve (2) and closing the filling valve (3) to stop the fill product flow at the end of filling, wherein

   closure of the control valve (2) and the filling valve (3) is synchronised, and the control valve (2) and the filling valve (3) are controlled with a time delay of an offset time (t_V),

   characterised in that

   the closing of the control valve (2) is triggered by a first control command (13) of a controller (8) and the closing of the filling valve (3) is triggered by a second control command (16) of the controller (8), wherein the second control command (16) is triggered with a time delay of an offset time (t_V) with respect to the first control command (13).
2. Method according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the offset time (t_V) is determined, the offset time (t_V) preferably being determined from the difference between a closing time (t_R) of the control valve (2) and a closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3).
3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the offset time (t_V) is determined on the basis of a flow measurement in the fill product line (5), the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) being determined by reference to the flow measurement.
4. Method according to claim 3, characterised in that the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) is determined on the basis of a change in the flow (18) over time.
5. Method according to any one of claims 3 or 4, characterised in that the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) is determined with respect to a minimum (22), preferably a first minimum (22), of the change in the flow (18) over time subsequent to the triggering of the second control command (16), wherein the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) is defined as a time period between the triggering of the second control command (16) and the time (T_M) at which the first minimum (22) occurs.
6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that, in the case of a predetermined plurality of pairs (7) of control valve (2) and filling valve (3), the associated offset time (t_V) is determined individually in each case for each individual pair (7) of control valve (2) and filling valve (3), and/or in that the control valve (2) switches between at least two different volumetric flows in order to control the volumetric flow, and the control valve (2) preferably switches between more than two different volumetric flows in order to control the volumetric flow and particularly preferably switches continuously, wherein the control valve (2) particularly preferably adjusts the volumetric flow proportionally.
7. Device (1) for filling a fill product, preferably for filling a beverage in a beverage filling plant by the free-jet method, comprising a controller (8), a filling valve (3) arranged at the end of a fill product line (5) for opening and closing the fill product line (5) and a control valve (2) arranged upstream of the filling valve (5) for controlling volumetric flow of the fill product to the filling valve (3), wherein

   the controller (8) is configured to synchronise closure of the control valve (2) and the filling valve (3),

   characterised in that

   the controller (8) is further configured to control the control valve (2) and the filling valve (3) with a time delay of an offset time (t_V), to output a first control command (13) for closing the control valve (2) and to output a second control command (16) for closing the filling valve (3) with a time delay of the offset time (t_V) with respect to the first control command (13).
8. Device (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the controller (8) is configured to determine the offset time (t_V), the offset time (t_V) preferably being determined from the difference between a closing time (t_R) of the control valve (2) and a closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3).
9. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 or 8, characterised in that a flow meter (4) is associated with the filling valve (3) and the control valve (2), the controller (8) being configured in such a way that the offset time (t_V) is determined on the basis of a flow measurement, the closing time of the filling valve (3) being determined by reference to the flow measurement.
10. Device (1) according to claim 9, characterised in that the controller (8) is configured to determine the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) on the basis of a change in the flow (18) over time.
11. Device (1) according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the controller (8) is configured to determine the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) in relation to a minimum (22), preferably a first minimum (22), of the change in the flow (18) over time subsequent to the triggering of the second control command (16), wherein the closing time (t_F) of the filling valve (3) is defined as a time period between the triggering of the second control command (16) and the time (T_M) at which the minimum (22) occurs.
12. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterised in that a plurality of pairs (7) of filling valve (3) and control valve (2) associated therewith is provided, wherein preferably for each individual pair (7) of control valve (2) and filling valve (3) the associated offset time (t_V) is determined individually in each case.
13. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 12, characterised in that the control valve (2) is configured to switch between at least two different volumetric flows in order to control the volumetric flow and the control valve (2) is preferably configured to switch between more than two different volumetric flows in order to control the volumetric flow and is particularly preferably configured to switch continuously, wherein the control valve (2) is particularly preferably configured as a proportional valve.

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