Abstract: A materials handling and weighing apparatus having a platform movable in a rectangular motion for transferring a work piece in stepwise fashion along a conveying path, the apparatus having a work piece escapement mechanism whereby work pieces are sequenced onto the movable platform one at a time without interference from a succeeding work piece, the weighing apparatus employing load detecting cells upon which the work piece is deposited during a cycle of the movable platform.

Abstract: An improved liquid filling apparatus for subsurface filling of a container is characterized by an arrangement permitting automatic withdrawal of the filling lance while maintaining a subsurface relationship of the discharge end of the filling lance with the liquid dispensed into the container. The apparatus includes a wheeled carriage which moves along a stanchion, the carriage being operatively associated with the filling lance. A wiper ring assembly, a drip collection assembly, and a fume disposal assembly which contains or entraps substantially all sources of fume generation are also provided as part of the filler apparatus.

Abstract: A liquid filler apparatus useful in connection with the filling of a container with a predetermined weight of liquid at a first and a second fill rate is characterized by a single control valve having either a ball-type or a butterfly-type valve element interposed in a flow control relationship between a source of liquid and a conduit insertable into the container to be filled. The control valve responds to signals functionally related to the weight (and therefore the volume) of the liquid within the container generated from a scale element to fill the container at different fill rates. An interface arrangement responsive to the signals generated by the scale is operatively associated with the control valve actuator to impose an actuating force on the valve element sufficient to open the valve element to define a first and a second flow cross-section to thereby permit liquid flow therethrough at the first and the second fill rates, respectively.