The invention relates to an apparatus for providing a fluid connection between at least one fixed fluid coupling and at least one of a plurality of containers transported on a conveyor.
Such an apparatus, intended for the extraction of fluid in the inspection of bottles, is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,771 having the same assignee. In that apparatus, gas samples are extracted from the bottles and fed to a fixed coupling at which an analysing instrument for the gas sample is provided. The bottles are transported on a carousel conveyor, which is expensive. An apparatus for inserting a fluid into a bottle for inspection purposes is moreover known from DE-U 9403641. This has an injection wheel arranged above the containers, which are conveyed in linear fashion. The injection wheel rotates above the conveyor line. Compared with the carousel, this does result in a simpler construction, but the duration of the connection, that is to say the time during which the fluid can be inserted into the bottle, is very short, especially at high container handling rates.