GB2042373A - Applying gaskets to container closure members - Google Patents

Abstract

A lining machine for applying flowed-on gaskets to container closure members, e.g. can ends (4), has one or more lining units (1, 2). Each lining unit has a fixed applicator (12) for applying lining compound to a component on a single lifter (10) rotatable on a fixed axis. Successive components (4) are transferred on to the lifter from a hopper (13) by a screw-type cover feed unit (14) and a light-weight turret (15) which is indexed in intermittent rotation and which precisely locates the component throughout its transfer to the lifter and its subsequent transfer to an exit conveyor (5). Use of a single, indexed turret, with fixed guides (18) and a single fixed lifter (10) and fixed applicator (12) eliminates heavy reciprocating feed bars or multiple turret arrangement which in known lining machines presented limitation on output rates. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Container component lining apparatus This invention relates to lining apparatus for applying liquid lining compound, to form an annular gasket, to each of a succession of container components, and to lining machines incorporating such apparatus, the apparatus being of the kind having component holding means for supporting each said component during application of lining compound to form a said gasket, whilst rotating the component about the axis of the component; compound applicator means for effecting said application; feed means including a rotatable feed turret for feeding said components in succession to the holding means; and discharge means for removing said components in succession from the holding means, the apparatus being coupled with drive means for driving at least the feed means and the holding means.

Such an apparatus will be called herein "lining apparatus of the kind hereinbefore specified".

Lining machines for applying flowed-in annular gaskets (that is to say gaskets formed by application of a liquid lining compound) to container components are well known as such. The components concerned are almost invariably closure members, such as top or bottom end closures of metal cans for drinks, food or other products, or caps of various replaceable or non-replaceable types for containers such as jars or bottles. The invention is applicable to machines for lining any container component with an annular gasket, but will in this specification be discussed and described with reference to can end closures, this being an application to which in practice the invention is particularly well suited. The gasket is formed by rapidly rotating the component below a jet of liquid lining compound which is directed accurately on to one point on the surface of the component.The compound, being subjected to centrifugal force, assumes a cross-section thicker at the outer circumference of the gasket than at its inner circumference; and in the case of a can end closure the gasket is formed in the outer curl of the closure, so as subsequently to provide a seal when the can end is secured to a can body member by a conventional double seam.

The lining compound may be of a water-based kind, in which case a curing oven is provided, through which the components are passed after the lining compound has been applied.

Alternatively, the compound may be of a socalled "solvent-based" kind, in which a volatile organic solvent is used.

Such lining machines as are in general use at present fall into two distinct types, viz. inline machines and multiple-turret machines.

The principle common to both of these types is that each successive component is delivered on to a lower support pad which rotates about its own axis, so as to rotate the component supported on it whilst lining compound is projected on to the component from a nozzle whose position has been pre-set with respect to the axis of rotation of the lower pad. The lower pad is usually raised into an operative position when the component has been delivered on to it, and before application of the compound commences. To this end the machine has a vertically-reciprocable lifter, the lower pad being part of the lifter. Above the lower pad there is an upper pad which cooperates with the lower pad to hold the component in position during the lining operation.

In a typical "in-line" machine, the components are delivered one at a time to the lower pad by a horizontally-reciprocating feed bar which is adapted to pick up, during its stroke, a component from a suitable magazine or other holding device, and to deposit it directly on to the lower pad. In this type of machine the lifter rotates about a fixed axis; and the compound applicator, with its nozzle, is also fixed. After the gasket has been applied and the lifter lowered, the component is removed from the latter by any suitable device which is typically the feed bar itself, and is thereby transferred to a conveyor for subsequent formation into a stack, or (if necessary) passing through a curing oven.

A multiple-turret lining machine has a main turret, continuously rotating about a vertical axis, and a piurality of lifters. The lifters are arranged on a common pitch circle on the main turret and therefore rotate about the main turret axis as well as about their own axes. The lining-compound applicator nozzles must therefore be carried by the main turret, being supplied with lining compound through a suitable rotary union in association with valves which control the supply of compound to each nozzle during a predetermined sector of the rotation of that nozzle about the main turret axis. As the main turret rotates, each lifter in turn receives a container component from a continuously-rntating feed turret which, as it rotates, picks up one component at a time from a suitable magazine or hopper or other holding device.A discharge or stacking turret removes each container component as the lifter carrying that component reaches it after the lining compound has been applied to the latter. The three turrets are all driven continuously and in synchronism, the lifters being operated by suitable cams.

Multiple-turret machines, being in continuous rotation at constant speed, are capable of operation at output rates, in terms of components per hour, compatible with those of modern presses of the kinds that will commonly be used to make the container components themselves. However, multiple-turret machines do also display a number of disad vantages, chief among which is that they are inherently rather complicated and therefore quite expensive to manufacture. For the same reason, this type of machine requires careful and constant maintenance and is therefore comparatively expensive in running costs. The main turret and the parts rotating with it, including all the lifters and the rotating parts of the lining-compound applicator assembly, constitute a substantial rotating mass.This, together with the weight of the other turrets, results in a considerable concentration of weight at the top of the machine, with a consequent need for correspondingly secure anchoring of the machine to the ground. The high concentration of rotating weight at the top can also give rise to problems of wear in bearings and other components, and to unwelcome vibration problems and difficulty in maintaining for reasonable periods of time the degree of accuracy required for the settings of the various components of the machine.

Another disadvantage of the multiple-turret type of lining machine is that, because the various turrets must be arranged with a particular set spacing between the axis of each turret and that of the next, any adjustment of the machine to handle components of a different diameter involves the provision of a complete set of change parts such as gearing, feed turret etc. Quite apart from the time required to effect such a change, this adds to the capital cost of the machine and generally militates against the increased output rate of which the multiple-turret machine is capable as compared with in-line machines.Finally, the rotary union necessary for the liningcompound applicator gives rise to leakage problems, whilst the fact that there must be more than one applicator nozzle is found to result in difficulties of setting, and maintaining, a proper balance between the pressures of the liquid lining compound at the various nozzles. This latter disadvantage is, in practice, an extremely serious drawback.

For the foregoing reasons, many operators prefer to use the inherently simpler in-line type of lining machine, which requires less maintenance than the multiple-turret type, is easier to adapt for handling components of different sizes, and is cheaper to run. In-line lining machines commonly in use are of the "dual-lane" type, that is to say a single machine with a single, common drive motor and gearbox has a pair of identical lining apparatuses each with its own component infeed device, feed bar assembly, lifter and fixed lining compound applicator. The two lining apparatuses operate simultaneously, and each apparatus normally receives the output from a single press (or a single press head of a multiple-head press).This arrangement further reduces the capital cost of providing the lining facility for the components produced by each press, and also reduces the floor space required, as compared with the provision of a separate multiple-turret lining machine to serve each press.

However, in-line machines of known kinds display their own disadvantages. For example, the reciprocating mass of the feed bars is subject to substantial acceleration and deceleration forces. During deceleration of the feed bar (from the middle of its feed stroke to the end of the stroke), the component being fed to the lifter support pad is held against restraining dogs on the feed bar by friction, and the maximum deceleration (typically 1 2g at 400 revolutions per minute) occurs just at the critical point at which the component is being transferred on to the lifter itself. This can give rise to errors in the positioning of the component on the lifter, and even to jamming of the machine by a mis-placed component. Again, since the feed bars have to be fully supported to ensure proper sliding movement with the required accuracy, some form of lubrication is required.This, however, presents difficulties due to the tendency of lubricants, particularly in high speed operation, to spread and to contaminate the container components. The transfer of components on to the feed bar also involves problems. This transfer is effected by the feed bar moving horizontally, in its forward stroke, below the leading component, i.e. the next to be picked up. Can ends and other stackable components are in practice held in a stack in a hopper or magazine, and the stack rests on the feed bar, the lowest component in the stack being picked up by a knife attached to the feed bar. In the case of a dual-lane machine, there are two such stacks, whose weight produces high frictional forces on the feed bar as the latter reciprocates. This results in undue wear on the feed bar and on the fixed surface on the deck of the machine on which the feed bar slides.In addition, the feed bar slides against the lowest component in the stack, and this can cause damage to the components.

A further disadvantage of known kinds of in-line lining machine arises from the fact that the lifter (or each lifter) is raised and lowered by a single rotary cam having opposed camming surfaces defining a groove in the side of the cam and engaging a cam follower of the lifter assembly for effecting both the upward and the downward movement of the latter.

This arrangement, at high speeds, produces an undesirable "jumping" effect as one of the camming surfaces becomes operative and disengages the cam follower slightly from the other camming surface, it being necessary to space the camming surfaces apart by a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the cam follower. At the instant when the follower changes from engagement with one surface to engagement with the other, its direction of rotation is reversed. This gives rise to undue wear. In addition, this type of cam arrange ment imposes vertical turning moments on the sliding bearings in which the lifter assembly moves up and down, again giving rise to problems of wear and of other factors such as local work-hardening.

All of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the in-line type of lining machine can be made insignificant if the speed of operation of the machine is kept below, at most, 360 components per minute per line. However, because of the higher output speeds of modern presses, mentioned hereinabove, this speed limitation is no longer acceptable. Thus the inherent disadvantages of the in-line type of machine render it unpromising for possible further development to higher output speeds; whilst, because of the disadvantages of the multiple-turret machine discussed above, the latter type remains relatively unattractive at higher output speeds, particularly since the higher the output speed the greater will be the loss of production when the machine has to be stopped for maintenance, repair or adjustment.

According to the invention, in a first aspect, in a lining apparatus of the kind hereinbefore specified, having a single compound applicator which is mounted in a fixed position (which is not to exclude the possibility of adjusting the nozzle position to obtain accurate direction of lining compound on to the component), the apparatus has the following characteristics, viz: (a) the holding means includes only one support element for a container component, this support element being rotatable about its own axis; (b) the support element axis is fixed with respect to the remainder of the apparatus, so that the support element is not movable in a horizontal plane except by rotation about its own axis; and (c) the rotation of the feed turret, to place container components on the component support element, is intermittent, the feed turret being indexed to effect this movement.

The feed turret is the only turret of the apparatus, and it preferably not only serves to place the container components on the support element, such as a lifter, but also to remove it therefrom after the lining compound has been applied to the component. To this end, the discharge means preferably comprise the feed turret together with fixed guide means, so that the latter receives each successive component from the feed turret.

The invention thus provides a lining apparatus having a single, intermittently rotating, turret and a single holding means with a single fixed lining-compound applicator, without relatively heavy reciprocating masses. This arrangement is not only simpler than the known types of lining apparatus discussed hereinbefore, but also calls for a minimum of change parts for adapting the apparatus for handling a different size of container component. Furthermore, as compared with not only the multiple-turret type of machine, but also the in-line type, a machine incorporating apparatus according to the invention has a greatly reduced top weight. The feed turret can be made very light (e.g. of aluminium or aluminium alloy), so that it can be operated at high speeds without problems being encountered due to the acceleration and deceleration of the turret.Problems of wear, vibration and accuracy of operation, arising due to relatively high top weight, are therefore reduced. Manufacturing and maintenance costs are also minimised due to the inherent simplicity of the arrangement. Greatly improved control of the container components during all stages of their handling in the apparatus is achieved. As a consequence of the reduction or elimination of disadvantages, discussed earlier herein in relation to known kinds of lining machine, in apparatus according to the invention, the latter is simple in construction and arrangement but can be operated at the higher speeds, in excess of 400 components per minute per line, now required of lining machines receiving container components from high-speed presses.

In this specification a distinction is made, for convenience, between a machine" and an "apparatus", the latter being that part of the machine which handles and operates on one line of container components. Accordingly, the invention in a second aspect thereof provides a lining machine comprising at least one lining apparatus according to the said first aspect of the invention, together with drive means for driving the apparatus or apparatuses. The drive means is arranged for continuous rotation to drive the rotatable component support element (e.g. for rotating the lifter) of the, or each, apparatus of the machine. In addition, the drive means includes a suitable intermitter or indexing device, coupled to the feed turret or feed turrets so as to obtain the required intermittent rotation of the latter.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, in the preferred arrangement in which the (or each) said rotatable component support element is a lifter, the lifter is operated by rotatable cams in the drive means, these cams being in the form of conjugate cams. The use of conjugate cams eliminates the speed limitation and other disadvantages encountered with the single rotating cams described earlier herein in connection with known lining machines of the in-line type.

Where the lining compound is of the "solvent" type, it is necessary to remove the solvent vapour without danger to personnel.

The volatile solvents generally used are, when in vapour form at normal atmospheric pressure, heavier than air. Accordingly, the invention in a preferred form provides a lining machine, according to the said second aspect thereof, in which an enclosed plenum chamber is arranged immediately below the level at which a container component is handled by the (or each) apparatus of the machine. Conveniently the apparatus itself is mounted on a top deck of the machine and the plenum chamber has an opening in its roof through which the lifter projects, so that heavy solvent vapour is drawn, by a suitable vapour extractor, downwardly through this opening and through the plenum chamber, to be removed harmlessly from the vicinity of the machine through ducting.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings hereof, in which: Figure 1 is a simplified perspective view of one lining machine according to the invention, for applying gaskets to can ends by cold application of solvent-based lining compound; Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the right-hand half of Fig. 2 being shown in section taken on the line ll-ll in Fig. 3; Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line Ill-IV in Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation showing the drive means of the machine, taken mainly on the plane IV-IV in Fig. 2, but showing certain parts in scrap section taken on other section planes; and Figure 5 is a sectional end elevation showing the drive means, taken on the plane V-V shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The machine shown in the drawings is of the dual-lane type, comprising two apparatuses in the form of lining units 1,2 respectively, and drive means, shown in Figs 4 and 5 and including a main drive motor 3 and other components common to the drive of both of the lining units 1 and 2. The lining unit 2 is a "mirror image" of the unit 1, but in all other respects the construction of the two lining units is identical and their method of operation is substantially identical. In the description that follows, therefore, reference will be made indiscriminately to either one of the lining units except where the context demands otherwise.

Each lining unit 1,2 comprises the following main elements, viz: (a) component holding means in the form of a lifter 10 and a top pad assembly 11, for supporting each in turn of a succession of circular metal can ends or covers 4 whilst rotating the can end, so supported, about the axis of the can end; (b) compound applicator means in the form of a single applicator 12, for applying the lining compound (not shown) to the can end supported on the corresponding lifter 10 so as to form on the can end an annular gasket; (c) feed means comprising a magazine or hopper 13, a cover feed unit 14, a rotatable feed turret 15, and a fixed feed guide portion 1 6 of a fixed guide means generally indicated at 17; and (d) discharge means comprising the feed turret 1 5 together with a fixed discharge guide portion 1 8 of the guide 1 7.

Each of the magazines 1 3 is arranged to receive can ends, through any suitable type of conventional means (not shown), from one of the two tool heads of a dual-lane press, which again may be of any known kind, but which is preferably one capable of an output rate of at least 400 can ends per minute per line (i.e.

400 ends per minute from each tool head).

The other compoments of the feed means transfer the can ends 4, one at a time, from the magazine 1 3 on to the lifter 10, in a manner to be described hereinafter. Similarly, the discharge means operate to remove each successive can end from the lifter after the gasket has been. formed on it by the applicator 12, and to transfer the can end on to the respective one of a pair of parallel exit conveyors 5. Each conveyor 5, which is not part of the lining machine, is of conventional construction and is driven by means not shown, though it may if desired be coupled, through a suitable drive, to the motor 3. The lifter 10, cover feed unit 14, and feed turret 15, are coupled to the drive means in a manner to be described below.It will be noted that in this machine there are no reciprocating feed bars, and that there is only one turret in each of the apparatuses 1,2, viz. the feed turret 1 5. Furthermore, each lifter 10 has an axis fixed with respect to the remainder of the apparatus, i.e.

the lifters are not rotated around an external axis.

The machine has an enclosed casing 19, generally in the form of a rectangular chest having a flat upper deck 20 and a bottom 21 defining a sump 22 for lubricating oil. A horizontal bulkhead 23 divides the casing 1 9 into a gearbox 24 and an enclosed plenum chamber 25, the latter being immediately below the upper deck 20. The construction is such that the plenum chamber is substantially sealed from the gearbox whilst permitting lubricant to pass from one to the other; but the upper deck 20 has two openings 26 in which the respective lifters 10 normally lie, the openings 26 being of such diameter that the plenum chamber 25 is open to the atmosphere. At one of its ends, the plenum chamber 25 is connected to a suction pipe 38 through which heavy solvent vapour can be removed from the plenum chamber by an external extraction fan (not shown).

The drive motor 3 is mounted on the machine casing 1 9 and drives a main lifter drive shaft 27 in continuous rotation through a belt drive 28. One end of the main drive shaft 27 carries a spur gear 29 which engages a further spur gear 30 on a layshaft 31; the layshaft 31 drives a vertical shaft 32 through further gears 33. A main lifter drive gear train 34 couples the shaft 32 to two hollow gears 35, each mounted for rotation in bearings 36 carried by a bearing housing 37 on the bulkhead 23. The lifter 10 of each lining unit is mounted on a vertical lifter shaft 39 which is verticaily movable along the axis 40, Fig. 3, of the lifter, the shaft 39 being coaxially splined to the bore of the corresponding gear 35.The bottom end of the lifter shaft 39 is rotatable in a bearing carried by a head 41 which, in turn, is slidable vertically in a guide 42 fixed to the machine casing.

The main lifter drive shaft 27 carries a spur gear 44 which drives a horizontal main shaft 43 of the machine through a spur gear 45.

The main shaft 43 carries, for each of the lining units 1,2, the indexing drum 46 of an intermitter device 47, and a pair of conjugate cams 48. The head 41 at the bottom of each lifter shaft has pivoted to it a push rod 49 extending axially downwards. The push rod 49 is, in turn, pivoted to one end of a rocker lever 50 whose other end is secured to a horizontal rocker shaft 51. The rocker shaft 51 is mounted for rotation about an axis fixed with respect to the machine casing 19, and carries a pair of cam follower levers 52 which engage the corresponding conjugate cams 48 through cam follower rollers 53. The conjugate cams, through the linkage just described, cause the push rod 49 to exert on the lifter shaft 39 an axial force to raise and lower the lifter alternately, and this force is substantially free of any non-axial component such as to exert a bending moment on the lifter shaft.

Each of the intermitters 47 is of a known design and may take any suitable form. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, each intermitter comprises a housing 54, in which the main shaft 43 is rotatable; the continuously-rotatable indexing drum 46, and a vertical output shaft 55 carrying an indexing turret 56 having equally-spaced radial stub shafts, each carrying a cam follower roller 85. One roller 85 at a time engages camming surfaces 57 of the indexing drum 46, the surfaces 57 being such that, with the drum 46 in continuous rotation at constant speed, the turret 56 is indexed intermittently with a constant dwell period between each indexing movement and the next.

Each intermitter output shaft 55 extends upwardly through the upper deck 20 of the machine, and carries the corresponding feed turret 1 5. The latter is of light construction in aluminium or aluminium alloy, and is spaced slightly above the top deck 20 to avoid friction, as seen in Fig. 3. The feed turret is of the conventional disc-like form having equallyspaced, arcuate, circumferential pockets 58 of equal radius.

The primary spur gear 44, Fig. 4, drives a further spur gear 59 carried by a horizontal coupling shaft 60, which drives, through gears 61, a vertical drive shaft 62 of each of the cover feed units 14, Figs. 2 and 3. Each cover feed unit comprises a housing 63 which is securely mounted on the upper deck 20 by means of studs 64. Within the housing 63 is a train of gears 65 by which the drive shaft 62 drives a vertical pick-off head shaft 66, which has at its lower end a pick-off head 67.

The head 67 comprises a cylindrical portion 68 having a recess defining a helical shoulder 69 in its circumference; and the portion 68 is surmounted by a flange 70 having a helical pick-off thread 71 which leads into the recess 69. The pick-off head 67 is shown in Fig. 2 as well as in Fig. 3, so as to illustrate how the flange 70 overlaps slightly into the space within the magazine 13, the latter being so orientated that each pocket 58 in turn of the feed turret 1 5 lies directly below a stack of can ends 4 (Fig. 1) in the magazine. The lowest can end in the stack has its periphery resting on the flange 70, so that as the pickoff head 67 is rotated, the thread 71 plucks the lowest can end from the stack and guides it downwards into engagement with the shoulder 69, which in turn guides the can end down further until it rests on the upper deck 20 of the machine.The various gears driving the pick-offhead 67 are so arranged, relative to the corresponding intermitter 47, that the can end 4 reaches the top deck whilst a feed turret pocket 58 is stationary in exact register with the magazine 13, so that the can end is thereby located in the pocket. As soon as this happens, the intermitter commences a rotational movement of the turret 1 5 in the direction indicated in Fig. 2 by the arrow A, to feed the can end towards the lifter 10, during which the can end is guided by the fixed feed guide 16.

A stop finger 81 (Fig. 1), operated by a pneumatic actuator 82 or a solenoid mounted on the upper deck 20, may be provided to prevent each pick-off head 67 collecting a can end 4 if it is desired to maintain at least a minimum number of can ends stacked in the corresponding magazine 1 3. The actuator 82 is connected to a suitable detector such as a proximity switch (not shown) in the magazine so as to be actuated in response to this switch when the height of the stack falls to the predetermined minimum value.

Each top pad assembly 11 comprises a top pad 73, coaxial with the corresponding lifter 10 and rotatable freely on the bottom end of a vertically-movable stem 74 which is biassed downwardly by a spring 75 in a fixed housing 76 mounted on the upper deck 20. In conventional manner, the spring 75 is compressed to hold the top pad 73 on the can end 4 supported on the lifter 10 so long as the latter is in its raised position, as indicated by phantom lines in Fig. 3.

Each of the applicator guns 1 2 is of any suitable known kind. The applicator system itself forms no part of the present invention and need not be described in detail herein, since the reader skilled in techniques of applying gaskets to container compounds will be familiar with the various types commercially available. These types include the conventional, purely mechanical system using a camoperated applicator gun of the plunger-andcylinder type; a proprietary electropneumatic system using pneumatically-operated applicator gun controlled by electrical micro-switches; and a proprietary high-pressure system in which the applicator gun is controlled by electronic means.The last-mentioned system is preferred in the lining machine of the present invention, since its applicator gun 78, Fig. 3, is relatively small and provides a very fine jet of lining compound whose flow rate, duration and direction can be controlled extremely accurately. This entire high pressure applicator system can be supplied by its manufacturer and fitted to the lining machine in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. In this system, the applicator 1 2 comprises the gun 78 and an electronic switching unit 77. The system also includes a reservoir (not shown) for supply of lining compound; and a compressor (not shown) for applying the necessary operating pressure to lining compound which is fed thereby to the applicator 1 2 through suitable piping, a small part of which is indicated at 79 in Fig. 2.The switching unit 77 is responsive to the position of each of the lifters 10, so as to open a valve (not shown) in the corresponding applicator gun 78 to release lining compound through the gun nozzle so when the lifter is raised, and to close the valve after a predetermined interval of time and before the lifter starts to be lowered by its conjugate cams 48. Operation of each electronic switching unit 79 in response to the raising of the corresponding lifter 10 may be effected through any suitable transducer, for example a proximity switch (not shown) operated by the raising of the top pad stem 74.In addition, a proximity switch 72 (Fig. 2) is preferably provided in the upper deck 20 at the bottom of each magazine 13, and is connected to the electronic switching unit 77, the latter being arranged so as not to operate the gun 78 at the appropriate subsequent time if the proximity switch detects no can end 4 in the adjacent pocket 58 of the feed turret.

If a lining compound applicator system of the abovementioned mechanical type is used, each applicator gun is connected by a suitable linkage with a vertical push rod which may most conveniently be actuated by a cam (not shown) on the main shaft 43, so as again to operate the gun whilst the corresponding lifter is in its raised position.

Parts of the operation of the machine have already been described above. The operation in respect of any one particular can end 4 is, briefly, as follows. The can end, stacked with others in one of the magazines 13, is fed as described above, by the cover feed unit 1 4 and feed turret, until it lies on the appropriate lifter 1 0. At this instant the intermitter 47 stops the rotation of the feed turret, which locates the can end positively on the rotating lifter. For this reason a support pad is not necessary on the lifter. The corresponding conjugate cams 48 now operate to raise the lifter, so that the can end is held on the latter, in the position indicated at 4' in Fig. 3, by the top pad 73.Lining compound is applied to the can end, as already described, for a predetermined time; the applicator gun 78 is stopped, and the lifter is lowered by the cams 48 so that the can end is once again located by the turret 1 5. The turret is then indexed through a further rotational step so that a new can end is presented to the lifter, whilst the can end to which lining compound has been applied is transferred in the same movement on to the corresponding exit conveyor 5, being guided by the fixed discharge guide 1 8.

One pair of the conjugate cams 48 is preferably so phased with respect to the other pair that the two lining units 1 and 2 operate alternately rather than simultaneously, thus reducing vibration, promoting smoother operation and reducing the amplitude of the peak drive torque demanded of the drive motor 3.

Adjustment of the machine for handling can ends of a different diameter from those previously handled is relatively simple, since the only parts required to be changed for others of different dimensions are the magazine 1 3, the turret 1 5 and the fixed guide 1 7. All of these are bolted to the top of the upper deck 20 and can be quickly changed. Adjustment of the direction of the lining compound jet is a simple matter of resetting the orientation of the applicator 1 2. The only other adjustment that need normally be made to prepare for a change of can end diameter is to move the horizontal position of the cover feed pick-off head 67 with respect to the magazine 1 3.

This is quickly achieved, within the limits indicated by the phantom lines 83 in Fig. 2 (representing the extreme positions of the vertical centre plane of the cover feed unit 14), by moving the whole unit 14 appropriately, for which purpose the fixing holes 84 in the base of the unit are elongated.

Claims (7)

1. Lining apparatus of the kind hereinbefore specified, having a single compound applicator in a fixed position, and in which the holding means includes a single support element for a container component, said support element being rotatable about its own axis, the axis of the support element being fixed with respect to the remainder of the apparatus, and the feed turret being arranged for intermittent indexed rotation to place successive container components on the component support element.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the discharge means comprise the feed turret together with fixed guide means for receiving each container component in succession from the feed turret.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2, wherein the fixed guide means include a fixed feed guide for engaging the container components during rotation of the feed turret so as to feed them towards the component support element.

4. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the feed turret is of aluminium or an aluminium alloy.

5. A lining machine comprising apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims together with drive means for driving the rotatable component support element, the drive means being arranged for continuous rotation and including an intermitter device coupled to the feed turret for driving the feed turret intermittently.

6. A machine according to Claim 5, wherein the rotatable component support element is a lifter which is coupled with the drive means whereby the lifter can be raised and lowered whilst the feed turret is stationary between successive rotational movements of the feed turret.

7. A lining machine constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as here in before described with reference to, and al illustrated in, the drawings hereof.

7. A machine according to Claim 6, wherein the lifter is coupled with a rocker lever operable by a pair of continuously-rotatable conjugate cams of the drive means, whereby a force to raise or lower the lifter is exerted thereon substantially free of any nonaxial component of force.

8. A machine according to any one of Claims 5 to 7, having an enclosed plenum chamber arranged immediately below the level at which a container component is supported by the component support element, the plenum chamber having means for connection thereof to vapour extraction means, whereby solvent vapour from the lining compound can be removed downwardly and through the plenum chamber.

9. A machine according to any one of Claims 5 to 8, having a plurality of said apparatuses, coupled to a common said drive means.

10. A lining machine incorporating lining apparatus of the kind herein before specified, the machine being constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the drawings hereof.

CLAIMS (18 June 1980)

1. A lining machine of the kind hereinbefore specified, having an enclosed plenum chamber arranged immediately below the level at which a container component is supported by the component support element, the plenum chamber having means for connection thereof to vapour extraction means, whereby solvent vapour from the lining compound can be removed downwardly and through the plenum chamber.

2. A machine according to Claim 1, wherein the component support element is a lifter which is coupled with a rocker lever operable by a pair of continuously-rotatable conjugate cams of the drive means, whereby a force to raise or lower the lifter, whilst the feed turret is stationary between successive rotational movements of the feed turret, is exerted on the lifter substantially free of any non-axial component of force.

3. A machine according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the feed turret is of alumin ium or aluminium alloy.

4. A machine according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the feed means in cludes a magazine for storing the container components in a stack, and a pick-off head for transferring said components by gravity from the stack to the feed turret, the pick-off head being rotatable continuously by the drive means about its own substantially vertical axis.

5. A machine according to Claim 4, wherein the pick-up head has a cylindrical portion surmounted by a top flange on which the stack can rest, the cylindrical portion having a peripheral recess defining a helical shoulder for guiding a said component into engagement with a pocket of the feed turret, and the flange having a helical groove leading into said recess, for engaging the lowest com ponent of the stack once in every revolution and for guiding it into engagement with said recess.

6. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims, having two of said feed means, each associated with a respective one of two said applicators, support elements and discharge means, the drive means being com mon to both of the feed means and the driven components associated therewith.