Means and method for filling bag-on-valve aerosol barrier packs
A bag-on-valve aerosol valve system in a container. Propellant is pressure filled around the valve stem, outwardly over the stem gasket and down into the container space outside the bag. Product is filled through the valve stem into the bag. The valve stem has an exterior intermediate frusto-conical annular surface and the valve housing has an interior frusto-conical annular surface, with both surfaces engaging in annular sealing contact to block propellant access to the bag when the valve stem is deeply depressed to a first predetermined position for propellant pressure filling. A stem exterior surface indent interacts with radially-biased spring-loaded slides to lock the stem in a second less depressed predetermined position for product filling through the stem down into the bag. The propellant and product may be pressure filled in either order using essentially conventional pressure filing equipment, after the valve is mounted on the container and the bag is mounted on the valve.
1. An apparatus for pressure filling product into a bag-on-valve aerosol valve system, the product to be filled into the bag sealingly mounted to the valve, and the valve having a valve stem with an indent in its exterior surface, the apparatus comprising:
a product filling head insert member having two spring-loaded slides, each of the spring-loaded slides being extendable into the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem to establish a precise degree of stem depression for product filling upon insertion of the valve stem into the product filling head insert member.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the two spring-loaded slides are spaced an angular distance from each other.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the two spring-loaded slides are biased radially inwardly towards the valve stem in an interference relation, are movable radially outwardly when the valve stem is initially inserted into the product filling head insert member, and are movable inwardly under spring-bias into the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem when the valve stem is inserted into the product filling head insert member to a desired depth.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem is annular and said two spring-loaded slides have curvilinear inner faces for extending into the indent.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the spring-loaded slides is extendable radially inward into the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem.
6. An apparatus for pressure filling product into a bag-on-valve aerosol valve system, the product to be filled into the bag sealingly mounted to the valve, and the valve having a valve stem with an indent in its exterior surface, the apparatus comprising:
a product filling head insert member having two spring-loaded slides, each of the spring-loaded slides being extendable into the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem to establish a precise degree of stem depression for product filling upon insertion of the valve stem into the product filling head insert member,
wherein the two spring-loaded slides are spaced an angular distance from each other, and
wherein the two spring-loaded slides are biased radially inwardly towards the valve stem in an interference relation, are movable radially outwardly when the valve stem is initially inserted into the product filling head insert member, and are movable inwardly under spring-bias into the indent in the exterior surface of the valve stem when the valve stem is inserted into the product filling head insert member to a desired depth.