GB191310447A - Improvements in and relating to Bottle Soaking Machines. - Google Patents

Abstract

10,447. Parry, J. May 3. Bottles, washing. - Bottle-soaking machines are constructed with carriers secured in an inclined transverse position across a pair of travelling endless chains which alternately pass below and rise above the liquid in the soaking- tank. The carriers are mounted so that the vessels are downwardly inclined to discharge the liquid each time they emerge therefrom and are reversed automatically so that the vessels are upwardly inclined for refilling each time they enter the liquid. Fig. 1 shows the general arrangement of the chains, and Figs. 5 and 7 one of the carriers. The chains a, which are driven by suitable gearing actuating sprockets on a shaft j, pass from the charging and discharging point shown at the left-hand top corner of Fig. 1 around pairs of pulleys c and also around pairs of submerged pulleys d. Each carrier comprises an openwork frame l fitted with a hinged spring lid m. The frame is formed with two lugs p secured to special links q of the chains, and the lid is fitted with an arm t adapted to engage fixed cams s, Fig. 3, at the charging and discharging points to open the lid. As each carrier rises to the discharging point, the lid is in such a position that it forms a hinged side to the carrier with the hinge at the upper edge. When the lid is opened in this position, the bottle rolls out of the carrier on to a pivoted counterweighted flap z, Fig. 1, and is delivered in turn to three other similar flaps 1, finally settling in a tank of rinsing-water. After the empty carrier has passed over the pulley c, Fig. 3, the lid is opened again by a second cam for the re-charging of the carrier by hand. In this position the lid has been reversed so that the hinge is at the lower edge, and the open lid thus forms a curved support for the bottle and assists in delivering it to the carrier. When soaking Codd's bottles a lever v, Fig. 5, on the carrier normally engages the ball stopper and keeps it away from the mouth of the bottle. The lever is withdrawn from the bottle at the charging and discharging points by fixed cams engaging the member x. Machines of larger capacity may be constructed with several pairs of chains side by side on the same shafts.