Today in 1911, US Patent 989546 A was issued, an invention of Mathias Jensen, for his “Bottle-Filling Machine.” There’s no Abstract, but there’s this description. “invented a new and Improved Bottle-Filling Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.”

This invention relates to certain improvements in machines for filling bottles, cans, or other containers with liquid or semi-liquid` substances, and more particularly to that type of machine in which a series of empty containers are continuously delivered to the machine, automatically filled in succession, and continuously delivered thereof. In a filling machine embodying all of the various features of my invention, the containers are conveyed along an endless belt to the machine and the latter operates to remove them from the belt, fill them in succession, and return them to the belt. The machine is so constructed that after filling each bottle, the liquid is removed from the bottle to a predetermined level below the mouth thereof, irrespective of slight variations in the height of successive bottles.