EP3795531B1 - Quality control when filling a container with a product - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to a device and a method for filling a container with a filling product, preferably in a beverage bottling plant for bottling beverages, such as water, carbonated or non-carbonated, soft drinks, wine, beer or mixed drinks.

Background of the invention

It is known to treat a container with a process gas, for example to flush and/or pre-stress it, before it is filled with a filling product. Depending on the filling product, different process gases, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, can be used. It is also important to remove unwanted gases from the interior of the container as much as possible before filling. For example, a low-oxygen filling process is sought for wine or beer. Since it can happen that the concentration and composition of the process gases change during the filling operation, container treatments using a process gas also have an impact on the quality of the filled filling product. For example, the oxygen uptake by the filling product in the example of beer and wine mentioned above can change gradually; a reduction in quality that can usually only be examined and assessed after the filling process with complex measurements.

In order to monitor the quality of the filling product during filling, the WO 2009/068144 A1 proposes to arrange a measuring device in a return line in which the filling product is circulated through a filler tank. The measuring device is set up, for example, to measure the sugar content, the turbidity, the carbon dioxide content or the temperature of the filling product. From the WO 94/26651 A1 is known for measuring the oxygen content in the container to be filled.

By monitoring the filling product quality during filling, the filling process can be influenced. So is from the above WO 2009/068144 A1 known, in the case of too low a carbon dioxide content in the filling product, as determined by the measuring device in the return line, to supply additional carbon dioxide through a metering device.

However, one difficulty lies in taking the quality of the process gases for pre-treatment of the containers into account when determining the quality of the filled product. The exact gas composition in the product boiler is usually unknown and can only be estimated through approximate calculations. In addition, the gas composition in the product vessel can change, for example due to gas flowing back from the treated and filled containers. Since it is desirable that different filling processes can be carried out with a filling system and the filling processes can differ greatly from one another, for example with regard to carbon dioxide purging, blowing out, evacuation, filling pressure, filling temperature and the like, an exact determination of the process gas composition, in particular the residual gas in the container, is necessary , which can be absorbed by the filling product, is almost impossible by calculation. Any sensors in each filling station would entail high costs and would hardly allow any conclusions to be drawn about the entire system.

The EP 2 722 304 A1 describes a device for filling a container with a filling product according to the preamble of claim 1.

The EP 0 979 797 A1 describes a filling system for filling bottles. The WO 2011/080483 A1 describes a rotating type filling machine with an oxygen measuring device.

Presentation of the invention

One object of the invention is to improve the filling of a container, preferably in a beverage bottling plant, and in particular to ensure consistent quality of the filled products with little mechanical engineering effort.

The task is solved by a device with the features of claim 1 and a method with the features of the independent method claim. Advantageous further developments result from the subclaims, the following description of the invention and the description of preferred exemplary embodiments.

The method and the device according to the invention are used to fill a container with a filling product. Preferably, the filling product is a beverage, such as water, carbonated or non-carbonated, soft drinks, wine, beer or mixed drinks. The device has a product tank for providing the filling product. The product tank is preferably arranged to rotate about an axis of rotation. Alternatively, the product tank can also be arranged rigidly. The product tank has, for example, a kettle shape or ring shape. Above the filling product there is a headspace in the product tank with a gas atmosphere that can have normal pressure (ie about 1 bar), excess pressure or negative pressure relative to the normal pressure. Spatial indications such as "above", "below" and the like are determined by the installation position of page 2

Device and the direction of gravity are clearly determined. The device further has at least one filling element with a filling valve which is in fluid communication with the product tank. The one or more filling elements serve to introduce the filling product from the product tank into the container or containers to be filled. The one or more filling elements each also have a gas channel for treating the container to be filled with a gas and/or discharging gas from the container, preferably partially or completely into the product tank. The product tank and the filling elements are preferably components of a filling machine with a rotary design.

The device according to the invention further has a measuring device for analyzing the gas atmosphere in the headspace of the product tank and a control device which is communicatively coupled or connected to the measuring device and is set up to produce a process quality, preferably quality, from the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the headspace of the product tank of the filled filling product.

In other words, by analyzing or monitoring the gas atmosphere in the product tank, conclusions can be drawn about the quality of the process, in particular the quality of the filled products. This creates independence from expensive and often unreliable analytical devices that subsequently evaluate the filled products. Process quality determination based on the gas atmosphere in the product tank can be used instead of or in addition to conventional quality control. Any optimization of the treatment process, including, for example, rinsing and/or pre-stressing and/or filling of the containers, can be carried out in real time and automatically, which eliminates or at least reduces the effort involved in subsequent quality control. In this way, the number of containers subsequently rejected due to quality problems can be reduced. The effects of different gas compositions on filling can be specifically investigated. Bad processes can be detected automatically and unnecessary process steps, such as evacuation and CO2 purging, can be optimized or even eliminated. In this way, not only can the overall process flow be optimized, but resource consumption, for example COz consumption, can be minimized.

Furthermore, the control device is set up to change the treatment of the container, including, for example, filling and/or rinsing and/or preloading the container with a gas, preferably carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, depending on the process quality determined by the control device. In this way, the treatment process can be optimized during regular operation of the device.

Furthermore, the measuring device has at least one gas sensor, which is set up to determine the gas composition in the headspace of the product tank or contributes to this. The Gas composition in the product tank, in particular the change in gas composition over time, allows conclusions to be drawn about the gas atmosphere in the container to be filled and thus also about the filling product quality in the filled container.

The gas sensor is preferably an oxygen sensor, in which case the control device is set up to determine the process quality taking into account the amount of oxygen in the headspace of the product tank. The term “amount of oxygen” includes all variables that are a measure of the absolute oxygen content, oxygen content, oxygen percentage and the like in the headspace of the product tank. The amount of oxygen or the residual oxygen in the product tank can be viewed as an indication of the oxygen content in the container to be filled, since this enters the product tank directly, for example through displacement with the filling product. For wine or beer, for example, a low-oxygen filling process is very important. Since it can happen that the concentration and composition of the process gases change during the filling operation, container treatments, such as flushing and/or pre-stressing of the containers, also have an impact on the quality of the filled filling product. By analyzing the oxygen content in the product tank, the oxygen uptake by the filling product can now be estimated in advance, and if the oxygen uptake is expected to be too high, the process can be optimized.

For example, if the oxygen content in the product tank increases, a deterioration in product quality can be counteracted by extending the flushing time of the container, preferably with carbon dioxide, optimizing any vacuum in the container and/or pre-stressing the container.

Particularly preferably, the gas channel is in fluid communication with the product tank, so that gas that is displaced from the container during filling and/or is released during relaxation of the container after filling passes through the gas channel into the head space of the product tank. In this way, the gas atmosphere in the product tank is directly related to the gas atmosphere in the containers, further improving the accuracy and reliability of the analysis method set forth herein.

The above-mentioned object is further achieved by a method for filling a container with a filling product, preferably in a beverage bottling plant. The method comprises: providing the filling product in a product tank, a headspace with a gas atmosphere being located above the filling product in the product tank; Introducing the filling product from the product tank into the container through a filling valve of a filling element, the filling element further having a gas channel for treating the container before filling and / or for discharging gas from the container, preferably partially or completely into the product tank; Analyzing the gas atmosphere in the headspace of the product tank using a measuring device; and determining, by means of a control device that is communicatively coupled to the measuring device, a process quality, preferably quality of the filled filling product, from the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the headspace of the product tank.

The features, technical effects, advantages and exemplary embodiments that were described in relation to the device apply analogously to the method.

For the reasons mentioned above, the treatment of the container, including, for example, filling and/or rinsing and/or preloading the container with a gas, for example carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, is changed or changed depending on the process quality determined by the control device. adjusted.

Furthermore, for the reasons mentioned above, the measuring device has at least one gas sensor, the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the headspace of the product tank preferably comprising a complete or partial determination of the gas composition in the headspace.

For the reasons mentioned above, the gas sensor is preferably an oxygen sensor, with the process quality preferably being determined taking into account the amount of oxygen in the headspace of the product tank.

Preferably, for the reasons mentioned above, when the amount of oxygen in the headspace of the product tank increases, a flushing time of the container, preferably with carbon dioxide, is extended and/or a vacuum in the container and/or a prestressing of the container is optimized.

Preferably, for the reasons mentioned above, the gas channel is in fluid communication with the product tank, with gas, which is displaced from the container during filling and/or released during relaxation of the container after filling, passing through the gas channel into the head space of the product tank reached.

Further advantages and features of the present invention can be seen from the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments. The features described there can be implemented alone or in combination with one or more of the features set out above, provided the features do not contradict each other. The following description of preferred exemplary embodiments is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Short description of the characters

Figur 1

schematisch eine Rundläufer-Füllmaschine zum Befüllen eines Behälters mit einem Füllprodukt in einem Isolator gemäß einem Ausführungsbeispiel;

Figur 2

eine Querschnittsansicht eines Füllorgans, das ein Füllventil und einen Gaskanal aufweist.

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

Figure 1

schematically a rotary filling machine for filling a container with a filling product in an insulator according to an exemplary embodiment;

Figure 2

a cross-sectional view of a filling element that has a filling valve and a gas channel.

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 designated with identical reference numerals. In order to avoid redundancies, a repeated description of these elements is partially omitted in the following description.

The Figure 1 shows schematically a rotary filling machine 100 with a plurality of filling elements 1 for filling a container 4 to be filled with a filling product. A product tank 2, for example the central boiler shown schematically, is supplied with the filling product to be filled into the container 4 to be filled via a product inlet 20. The filling product is, for example, a carbonated filling product, such as soft drinks, mineral water, wine or beer.

The product tank 2 has a headspace 2a above the filling product, in which there is a gas atmosphere, the composition of which can change in the course of the regular operation of the rotary filling machine 100, i.e. during the filling process. For example, it is possible that a CO2 atmosphere in the headspace 2a is contaminated by air, thus oxygen, which is displaced from the containers 4 into the product tank 2 during filling.

Since the carbonic acid is released from the filling product under atmospheric pressure, the product tank 2 is subjected to an overpressure in the case of filling carbonated filling products, preferably via a clamping gas supply line 24 by introduced clamping gas. Carbon dioxide is provided as the clamping gas; alternatively, other gases such as nitrogen or oxygen can also be provided as the clamping gas. Accordingly, the product tank 2 is under excess pressure, and above the filling product there is preferably a CO2 atmosphere under a sufficiently high pressure, which prevents the CO2 from being released from the filling product, so that a filling product with the desired carbonization is present at the filling elements 1 , which can then be filled into the container 4 to be filled accordingly.

The product tank 2 is connected to a filling valve 12 of the corresponding filling element 1, through which a container 4 to be filled is filled with the filling product. The container 4 to be filled is accommodated in a container receptacle 42 and is pressed through this with its container opening 40 or mouth against an outlet opening 30 of the filling valve 12 in such a way that a liquid and gas-tight contact is established between the outlet opening 30 and the container opening 40.

In order to prevent CO2 from being released from the filling product during filling and correspondingly strong foaming of the filling product taking place during the filling process, which would prevent efficient filling, the container 4 to be filled is preferably prestressed with the clamping gas. The tension gas can, for example, be directed from the product tank 2 via a tension gas line 22 via a valve provided on the filling valve 12 to the container 4 to be filled, which is already pressed gas-tight against the outlet opening 30. When the filling valve 12 is open, the tension gas is then fed through the filling product flowing into the container 4 via a gas channel (cf. Figure 2 ) derived, preferably displaced back into the product tank 2, where it enters the head space 2a of the product tank 2. This process is also known as “back pressure filling”. In other words, the filling product is filled from the product tank 2, which is under overpressure, into a container 4 to be filled, which is also under overpressure.

Before the then filled container 4 is released from the outlet opening 30, the pressure present in the container 4 is released in a controlled manner in order to counteract excessive release of CO2 in this phase. If the gas-tight connection between the container opening 40 and the outlet opening 30 were to be immediately released, the excess pressure would be suddenly reduced, which would also cause a sudden release of part of the CO2 dissolved in the filling product and, accordingly, part of the filling product would escape or overflow from the container 4 can. This overflow can be counteracted by the controlled release of the excess pressure, which is also referred to as “relieving” or “relaxing”.

In order to protect the filling product even further in the case of oxygen-sensitive products, the container 4 to be filled can be flushed with an inert purge gas before the actual pre-stressing before filling - for example also with CO2. Rinsing of the container 4 can also be performed in cases where preloading is not required.

The “counter-pressure filling” presented above is only an example. For example, it is possible, especially for filling non-carbonated filling products, to fill the filling product without excess pressure, to be introduced into the container 4 solely by its static pressure. Likewise, the container 4 does not necessarily have to be under excess pressure when filling.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the rotary filling machine 100 has an isolator 5, in the interior of which a substantially sterile area 6 is provided. The outlet opening 30 of the filling valve 12 as well as the container receptacle 42 and the container 4 are arranged in the sterile area 6, so that aseptic filling of the filling product into the container 4 to be filled is possible. In other words, the opened container 4 to be filled can first be transported to the container holder 42 in a sterile atmosphere, picked up by it and then pressed against the outlet opening 30. After filling, the then filled container 4 can be released again from the outlet opening 30 and further transported in the sterile atmosphere to a downstream sealer. By providing the isolator 5 and the sterile atmosphere contained therein, the germ load on the containers 4 to be filled as well as on the filled containers 4 and the filling product contained therein can be minimized, so that the filling product has the highest possible shelf life.

Because the container 4 and the outlet opening 30 are guided in the sterile atmosphere, contamination of these elements can be counteracted. The sterile area 6 essentially has atmospheric pressure, with a slight excess pressure usually being provided in the sterile area 6 compared to the unsterile atmosphere outside the isolator 5 in order to ensure that at any leakage points or at transfer locks for transferring the containers 4 into the sterile Area 6 no contaminating substances enter the sterile area 6.

Furthermore, in the Figure 1 another container 4 is shown, which is accommodated in another container receptacle 42'. The further container receptacle 42' is in a lowered state compared to the container receptacle 42, so that the container 4 and the outlet opening 30 are spaced apart from one another. The container receptacle 42' is in a transfer position for transferring the containers 4, in which containers 4 to be filled are taken over by an inlet star, not shown, and filled containers 4 are transferred to an outlet star, not shown. In the rotary filling machine 100 shown, the transfer positions for removal and return are located next to each other, so that a large treatment angle for treating the containers 4 is provided. The product tank 2 is arranged to rotate about an axis of rotation R. Alternatively, the product tank can also be arranged rigidly and the filling product can be directed to the individual rotating filling valves via a rotary distributor. It is also possible to provide the product tank as a rotating ring container.

The filling elements 1, which are fixedly arranged on the product tank 2, rotate with the product tank 2 due to the concept. The filling valves 12 are connected in a gas-tight manner to a rotating insulator cover 50, which is sealed in a gas-tight manner with a dynamic seal, for example in the form of a water lock 54, relative to a rigidly arranged insulator trough 52. The outlet openings 30 are arranged in such a way that they are surrounded by the sterile area 6.

The rotary filling machine 100 Figure 1 also has a relief arrangement 7, which is connected to the filling valve 12. A relief valve 70 is provided in order to be able to control or regulate the opening and closing of a gas path through the relief arrangement 7. The relief arrangement 7 has a relief line 71, the outlet opening 72 of which opens through the insulator blanket 50 into the sterile area 6. When the filled container 4 is relieved of pressure, the tension gas is vented directly into the sterile area 6 before the gas-tight connection between the container opening 40 and the outlet opening 30 of the filling valve 12 is released.

This arrangement prevents contamination of the filling product from occurring when the container 4 is relieved, since the outlet opening 72 of the relief arrangement 7 does not come into contact with the non-sterile atmosphere and therefore no germs get into the relief arrangement 7. Furthermore, it can be ruled out that a biofilm forms in the relief arrangement 7 during long production cycles, which grows up the relief line 71 to the filling valve 12 and which ultimately contaminates the filling product and/or the container 4 to be filled. Compared to the prior art, improved hygiene of the rotary filling machine 100 is thus achieved in a simple manner.

The relief line 71 is provided with a slope so that product particles and/or product aerosols slide off due to the slope and thus no biofilm can form, which would contaminate parts of the rotary filling machine 100 and/or the filling product. Furthermore, this ensures that condensate of a gas or a vapor or a cleaning liquid, which is used to clean the rotary filling machine 100, can flow completely out of the relief arrangement 7 on the inner walls of the relief arrangement 7.

Furthermore, a throttle arrangement is provided in the relief arrangement 7, by means of which a volume flow of the clamping gas to be conducted from the filled container 4 can be regulated in order to achieve controlled venting and thus foaming of the filling product and thus a filling loss due to a too rapid reduction in the preload pressure impede. In this way, the relief can be optimally adjusted with regard to the filling product to be filled and the container 4 and, for example, the course of the relief can be adjusted with regard to the saturation pressure of the filling product.

Within the treatment angle, 100 different treatment areas are provided on the rotary filling machine, in which the container 4 is subjected to different treatment steps. After pretreatment steps such as sterilization, evacuation and/or intermediate rinsing, the container 4 is preferably prestressed using the tension gas from the product tank 2. The filling valve 12 is then opened and the filling of the container 4 to be filled with the filling product begins. After the filling process has ended and any necessary filling level correction has been made, the containers 4 must be calmed down and relieved of the load. The subsequent calming and relief phase serves to reduce the filling pressure in order to avoid CO2 being released from the filling product and the associated loss of filling due to foam formation. During the settling period, gaseous CO2 can rise in the filling product so that it does not lead to foam formation during relief. Depending on the requirements, the relief can also take place in several steps or stages. After the head space of the container 4 has been relieved via the relief arrangement 7, the pressure prevailing in the sterile area 6 is again present in the container 4. The container 4 is then brought into the transfer position by lowering the container holder 42 and then preferably transferred to a subsequently arranged sealer.

It should be noted that the relief can alternatively take place into the external environment or into the product tank 2. Furthermore, the insulator 5 set forth herein is optional. It is an advantage if particularly hygienic filling is required, but can be omitted if necessary.

In order to flush and/or pre-stress the container 4 and/or to remove the atmosphere in the container 4 in a controlled manner during filling and, if necessary, when unloading, the filling valve 12 has the above-mentioned gas channel, which is in the Figure 1 is not shown separately, but from the exemplary embodiment Figure 2 emerges.

This is how it shows Figure 2 a cross-sectional view of an exemplary filling element 1. The filling element 1 has, accommodated in a valve base body 10: a filling product line 11, which is in fluid communication with the product tank 2; the filling valve 12, which is arranged at the lower, ie downstream end of the filling product line 11; the mentioned gas channel 13; and a gas valve 14 arranged at the lower end of the gas channel 13.

The container 4 can be flushed and/or prestressed with a gas, such as inert gas, nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide, via the gas channel 13 and the gas valve 14. Furthermore, he can The interior of the container can be set to a desired pressure, for example evacuated. The derived gas can be completely or partially directed into the headspace 2a of the product tank 2. The gas channel 13 may be a multi-channel construction, for example through a tube-in-tube construction, may include multiple gas lines to physically separate the supply of one or more gases into the container 4 and/or the discharge of gas from the container 4, if necessary .

The gas valve 14 includes, for example, a gas poppet and a gas valve seat configured to regulate gas flow. For this purpose, the gas valve cone can be switched via an actuator, not shown.

The filling product line 11 is preferably designed as a ring line which extends essentially concentrically to the gas channel 13. The filling valve 12 includes, for example, a filling poppet and a filling valve seat configured to regulate the flow of the filling product. The filling valve 12 is set up to enable the filling product flow to be completely shut off. In the simplest case, the filling valve 12 has two positions, one open and one completely closed. For this purpose, the filling valve 12 can be switched via an actuator, not shown.

The gas valve 14 and the filling valve 12 are actuated via actuators that are not described in more detail. It should be noted that the gas valve 14 and filling valve 12 can be operatively connected to one another, so that, for example, an actuator can be set up for shared use in order to simplify the structure of the filling element 1 and increase reliability.

The filling element 1 has a mouth section 15 at the outlet end of the media, which is set up so that the container mouth can be brought sealingly against the mouth section 15. For this purpose, the mouth section 15 preferably has a centering bell with a suitably shaped pressure rubber. The filling element 1 with the mouth section 15 is set up for a so-called wall filling, in which the filling product flows downwards on the container wall after exiting the mouth section 15. Preferably, the filling product line 11 and the mouth section 15 are designed or have corresponding means so that the filling product is set into a swirl during filling, whereby the filling product is driven outwards by centrifugal force and, after exiting the mouth section 15, flows downwards in a spiral movement.

It should be noted that spatial information such as "below", "below", "above", "above", "downwards", etc. refer to the installation position of the filling element 1, which is clearly determined by the direction of gravity.

The Indian Figure 2 The structure of the filling element 1 shown is only an example. The filling element 1 can have any suitable structure, provided that it is equipped with a gas channel 13 which is set up for flushing and/or prestressing the container 4 and/or for discharging gas from the container 4.

Coming back to that Figure 1 a measuring device 80 is provided for analyzing the gas atmosphere in the headspace 2a of the product tank 2. The measuring device 80 here has at least one gas sensor 81, which is set up to determine the gas composition in the head space 2a of the product tank 2 or contributes to this. The gas sensor 81 is preferably set up to measure the amount of oxygen in the product tank 2 or its headspace 2a.

The measuring device 80 is communicatively coupled to a control device 90, which is an electronic device for monitoring and controlling the rotary filling machine 100. For this purpose, the control device 90 also communicates with actuators of the rotary filling machine 100, such as the filling valves 12, in order to control the treatment process of the containers 4. Data transmission can be wireless or wired.

The sensor system comprising the measuring device 80 and the control device 90 makes it possible to completely or at least partially determine the gas composition in the headspace 2a of the product tank 2 and to draw conclusions about the process quality. For example, the residual oxygen in the product tank 2 can be viewed as a measure or indication of the oxygen content in the container 4 to be filled, since it gets into the product tank 2 through displacement with the filling product. The residual oxygen in the product tank 2 can therefore function as a process quality parameter. If the oxygen content in the product tank 2 increases, a deterioration in product quality can be counteracted by optimizing the treatment process. This can be achieved, for example, by extending the rinsing time of the container 4, optimizing the vacuum in the container 4 or pre-stressing the container 4.

Monitoring the gas atmosphere in the product tank 2 creates independence from expensive and often unreliable analysis devices, which can only detect a reduction in quality afterwards, ie on the filled product. The optimization of the treatment process, including, for example, rinsing and/or prestressing as well as filling the containers 4, can be carried out in real time and automatically, thereby reducing the effort involved in subsequent quality control is eliminated or at least can be reduced. This means that fewer filled containers 4 have to be removed afterwards.

The effects of different gas compositions on filling can be specifically investigated. Bad processes can be detected automatically, and unnecessary process steps, such as evacuation and CO2 purging, can be optimized or even eliminated. In this way, not only can the overall process flow be optimized, but resource consumption, for example COz consumption, can be minimized.

Reference symbol list

100

Rotary filling machine

1

Filling organ

2

Product tank

2a

Headspace

10

Valve base body

11

Filling product line

12

Fill valve

13

Gas channel

14

Gas valve

15

Mouth section

20

Product inflow

22

Tension gas line

24

Tension gas supply line

30

outlet opening

4

container

40

Container opening

42, 42`

Container holder

5

insulator

50

Insulator blanket

52

Isolator tray

6

Sterile area

7

Relief Order

70

Relief valve

71

relief channel

72

Exhaust opening

80

Measuring device

81

Gas sensor

90

Control device

R

Axis of rotation

Claims (8)

1. Device for filling a container (4) with a filling product, preferably in a beverage filling plant, wherein the device has:

   a product tank (2) for providing the filling product, wherein a head space (2a) with a gas atmosphere is located above the filling product in the product tank (2);

   at least one filling member (1) having a filling valve (12) which is fluidically connected to the product tank (2), for introducing the filling product from the product tank (2) into the container (4) to be filled, and having a gas channel (13) for treating the container (4) to be filled with a gas and/or for discharging gas from the container (4);

   a measuring apparatus (80) for analysing the gas atmosphere in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2); and

   a control apparatus (90) which is communicatively coupled to the measuring apparatus (80) and is configured to determine a process quality, preferably quality of the filled product, from the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2),

   characterised in that

   the measuring apparatus (80) has at least one gas sensor (81) which is configured to determine or contributes to determining the gas composition in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2), and

   the control apparatus (90) is configured to alter a treatment of the tank (4), comprising filling and/or flushing and/or pressurising the container (4) with a gas, preferably carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, depending on the process quality determined by the control apparatus (90).
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that the gas sensor (81) is an oxygen sensor and the control apparatus (90) is configured to determine the process quality by considering the quantity of oxygen in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2).
3. Device according to claim 2, characterised in that the control apparatus (90) is configured to lengthen a flushing time of the container (4), preferably with carbon dioxide, and/or to optimise a vacuum in the container (4) and/or a pressurisation of the container (4) in the event of an increasing quantity of oxygen in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2).
4. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the gas channel (13) is fluidically connected to the product tank (2) so that gas displaced from the tank (4) during filling and/or released during depressurisation of the tank (4) after filling passes through the gas channel (13) into the head space (2a) of the product tank (2).
5. Method for filling a container (4) with a filling product, preferably in a beverage filling plant, wherein the method has the steps of:

   providing the filling product in a product tank (2), wherein a head space (2a) with a gas atmosphere is located above the filling product in the product tank (2);

   introducing the filling product from the product tank (2) through a filling valve (12) of a filling member (1) into the container (4), wherein the filling member (1) has a gas channel (13) for treating the container (4) before filling and/or for discharging gas from the container (4);

   analysing the gas atmosphere in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2) by means of a measuring apparatus (80); and

   determining, by means of a control apparatus (90) which is communicatively coupled to the measuring apparatus (80), a process quality, preferably quality of the filled product, from the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2),

   characterised in that

   the measuring apparatus (80) has at least one gas sensor (81) and the analysis of the gas atmosphere in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2) comprises fully or partially determining the gas composition in the head space (2a), and

   a treatment of the tank (4), comprising filling and/or flushing and/or pressurising the container (4) with a gas, preferably carbon dioxide, nitrogen or oxygen, is altered depending on the process quality determined by the control apparatus (90).
6. Method according to claim 5, characterised in that the gas sensor (81) is an oxygen sensor and the process quality is determined by considering the quantity of oxygen in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2).
7. Method according to claim 6, characterised in that, in the event of an increasing quantity of oxygen in the head space (2a) of the product tank (2), a flushing time of the container (4), preferably with carbon dioxide, is lengthened and/or a vacuum in the container (4) and/or a pressurisation of the container (4) is optimised.
8. Method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterised in that the gas channel (13) is fluidically connected to the product tank (2) and gas displaced from the container (4) during filling and/or released during depressurisation of the container (4) after filling passes through the gas channel (13) into the head space (2a) of the product tank (2).

Images