GB2058030A - Closure cap orientation - Google Patents

Abstract

A mechanism for aligning closure caps in a cap feeding system including in particular caps with irregularly shaped skirts. Caps in a moving line of randomly orientated caps are sensed and aligned so that all caps emerging therefrom having their covers facing the same direction. The cap selector mechanism has a revolving cap feed star wheel with cap receiving pockets. A cap inverting wheel (6) is mounted at one side of the star wheel having arms for engaging and tilting of the star wheel having arms for engaging and tilting inverted caps in the star wheel pockets so that they are carried into a toroidal cap guide means (13) with a turnover cam arrangement as they leave the inverting wheel. The turnover cam means has an elongated arcuate camming slot for receiving the edges of the tilted caps and for completing their inversion as the caps are moved along the cam towards its outlet end while the caps are spaced from one another by the pockets of the rotating cap feed star wheel. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION High speed closure cap selector The present invention relates to a means for feeding closure caps at high speed from a cap feeding hopper to a sealing machine cap applicator, and more particularly, to a selector for such a cap feed for detecting inverted closures and for inverting them so that all closures being fed from the selector are properly oriented with their covers uppermost for being fed directly to a sealing machine cap applicator or similar device.

Cap selectors of this general type are well known for accomplishing a cap feeding and cap orientating operation on a variety of closures. Such mechanisms are disclosed, for example, in prior U.S. Patents numbers 3.532.202, 3,342,305, 3,244,264, and 3,095,957 owned by the assignee of the present invention. The selector of the present invention has been particularly provided for performing a high speed cap selecting operation on closures having skirts including pull-tabs or other irregularities. This type of closure cap presents particular problems for selectors because the integral thumb-tab and rip-tab portions interfere with the operation of prior selectors such as those of the above noted patents.The selector of the present invention, on the other hand, has an improved arrangement of the detecting and selecting elements which permits it to operate rapidly and effectively within this type of closure including closures, for example, of the type described in United States Patent No. 3,913,771 dated Oct. 1975 covering a tamperproof type of closure with a molded plastic skirt.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved cap selector adapted for high speed selection of closures having irregularly shaped skirts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap selector which will align caps where the caps have molded plastic skirts having irregularities thereon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cap selector which will handle composite closure caps having relatively thick and irregular skirt portions.

Accordingly the present invention provides apparatus for inverting improperly oriented caps or the like in a moving line of randomly oriented caps, comprising a rotatably mounted cap feed wheel having a plurality of spaced cap feeding pockets; a cap guide means for guiding caps in the cap feed wheel pockets; a cap sensing and tilting wheel arranged to be driven in synchronizm with said cap feed wheel and positioned at the exist end of the cap feeding means with its axis positioned generally at right angles to the axis of the cap feeding wheel and having a plurality of radial sensing arms whose outer ends are positioned for engaging the covers of inverted caps in the cap feed wheel pockets; elongated cam means extending around an arcuate path at the outer edge of said cap feed wheel including cap tilting cam surfaces for engaging and inverting those caps engaged by said sensing arms and being advanced in pockets of said cap feed wheel; a channel means adjacent said elongated cam means for receiving and passing correctly oriented caps; and outlet means positioned beyond said cap inverting means and said channel for passing all caps being carried from the cap selector by the cap feed wheel.

In order to promote a fuller understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, an embodiment will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the cap selector of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 on Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to Figure 2 illustrating the selector action with an inverted closure cap.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the cap sensing and tilting wheel taken along 4-4 on Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view corresponding to Figure 4 illustrating the selector wheel operation on an inverted closure cap.

Figures 6 and 7 are vertical sectional views taken along lines 6-6 and 7-7 on Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a perspective view partially cut away illustrating a cap selector in accordance with the invention.

The cap selector of the present invention are positioned between cap supplying hoppers and cap feeding applicators on sealing machines or similar devices. Typical cap hoppers, such as are useful with the selector, comprise hollow storage enclosures which include driven means usually in the form of a rotating plate or wheel for continuously moving closure caps from the hopper towards and into the open end of a cap feeding chute. These hoppers are continuously fed with supplies of the closure caps which are randomly orientated so that they may be fed out of the hopper and into the cap chute in either a normal cap applying position with the cap covers uppermost or in an inverted position with the cap covers positioned downwardly.As the hoppers continue their feeding operation for an interconnected sealing or other device, the caps are fed into the selector in a continuing stream with random cap positioning at the input and with sufficient cap feed pressure so that the caps pass continuously through and along the cap feeding chute to the cap selector of the invention.

Figure 1 illustrates a hopper 1 feeding caps 2 into a cap chute 3 and through a cap selector 4. The cap selector 4 includes a cap feeding star wheel 5 for receiving and for spacing the moving caps 2, and a synchronized and interconnected cap sensing and tilting wheel 6. The sensing and tilting wheel 6 is synchronized with the star wheel 5 and is so positioned that it passes properly oriented closure caps 2 without contact and so that it engages the covers of inverted closures and tilts these caps onto a backup bar 7 causing them to be fed into an elongated cap toroidat inverting cam slot 7' in the cap selector 4 and extending around the cap feeding star wheel 5.The improperly oriented caps 2, which do not contactthe tilting wheel 6, are held against tilting by a bar magnet 8 and enter a passage 11 (Figure 2).

The hollow chute 3 is adjustable for receiving closure caps of the desired diameter and skirt depth and for carrying them to the cap selector 4. The moving caps 2 in the cap feeding chute 3 first enter into pockets 8' in the rotating star wheel 5 which has a number of pockets 8'.

The star wheel 5 is preferably driven by the pressure of the caps 2 being fed from the hopper 1 which is set to provide an adequate supply of caps for the sealing machine being fed.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate closure caps 2 being fed into the rotating cap feed star wheel 5 from the cap feeding chute 3.

Shortly after each closure cap 2 enters a pocket 8' (into) rotating star wheel 5 the cap 2 is moved through a selecting position adjacent to cap sensing and tilting wheel 6. The wheel 6 is mounted on an appropriate shaft coupled by a suitable gearing to the cap feeding star wheel 5 so that two wheels 5 and6 move in synchronism and so thatthe cap selecting arms 9 on the cap sensing and tilting wheel 6 are centered with respect to closure caps 2 positioned in the star wheel 5.

Figures 2 and 4 show a properly oriented closure cap 2 with its cover 10 uppermost being moved past the cap selecting and tilting wheel 6. In this case, the selecting arms 9 enter the closure cap 2 while remaining spaced from the closure cap 2 so that properly oriented closures are moved past magnet 8 and on through the selector passage 11 without having their position changed and so that they do not enter the cap inverting cam slot 7'. These correctly oriented caps continue to move onwardly through the passage 11 and out of the selector 4 exit end 12 properly positioned for being fed to the sealing machine cap chute and cap applicator.

A closure cap 2 which is inverted and which thus is not properly oriented for being fed to a sealing machine is illustrated in Figures 3 and 5 as it moves past the cap selecting and tilting wheel 6. This cap, which has its cover 10 positioned downwardly, engages a sensing arm 9 of the rotating cap sensing and tilting wheel 6 so that the moving wheel arm 9 tilts the cap 2 and lifts its outer edge upwardly and into engagement with the edge of the cap inverting backup bar 7. The cap inverting slot 7' is formed by two principal cam sections extending longitudinally of the curved selector 4.The outermost of these cam sections is an upper cam 13 which engages the outer edge of the cap 2 and which progressively forces this edge upwardly and inwardly as the opposite and inner cam section 14 succeeds the backup bar 7 to simultaneously engage an inner portion of the cap to force it downwardly and inwardly. These combined caming actions cause each inverted cap to be moved progressively to a generally vertical position within the cap feeding chute and to then turn the cap further, as illustrated in sectional view 6, from the vertical position towards a cover-up position within the cap chute as the caps reach the selector exit 12 as illustrated in section Figure 7.

Afeature of particular importance in the cap selector is its ability to handle closure caps having irregularities on the outer edges or skirts of the caps.

Such skirts, for example, are found in an increasingly popular style of closure caps known as composite caps where the cap skirts are formed of molded plastic and where the remaining portions of the caps may comprise metal or plastic covers. These molded plastic skirts are often characterized by the use of tamperproof tear strips which include gripping tabs which extend radially outwardly from the cap skirts.

These portions of the cap skirts as well as other molded lift tabs and the like, make the skirts irregular. The presence of these irregularities cause interference between caps in continuous lines of caps such as rows of caps passing through the cap selectors of the form described in the above identified patents. The cap selector of the present invention provides for an isolation of the individual caps 2 within the pockets 8 of the star wheel 5 as the caps 2 move through the inversion slot 7' of the cap selector 4.

The selector comprises upper and lower outer guide sections 15 and 16 respectively, whose inner facing surfaces 17 and 18 are shaped to provide a generally circular channel to accommodate the tilting motion of the inverted caps 2. Figure 2 for example, shows these upper and lower sections 15 and 16 at about the beginning of the chute inversion section with the arcuate interior surfaces 17 and 18.

The surfaces 17 and 18 extend along the sections and merge into their terminal portions as shown in section view Figure 6, which is relatively close to the closure cap exit end of the cap selector.

The upper and lowersections 15 and 16 are positioned on opposite sides of a backing or mounting plate 19. Caps 2 being fed into the selector 4 on the cap feeding star wheel 5 ride on the plate 19. In order to permit the above described initial cap tilting action for inverted caps as described above and as illustrated in Figure 3, an arcuate inverting slot 20 extends in the plate 19 along the path of the moving caps 2 to receive the lowered edge of the spaced and tilted closures 2. At the same time, the spaced edges of the plate 19 alongside of the slot 20 support the edges of the properly oriented caps 2 as they are moved along in pockets 8 of the cap feed star wheel 5.The outer cap tilting cam 13 whose action in tilting improperly oriented closures has already been described, also acts to guide and to retain properly oriented caps as the outer edges of these caps 2 move beneath the cam section 13 in the manner illustrated in Figures 2 and 6. The tilting edge of the outer cam 13 extends from a position outwardly of the outer edge of the cap feeding star wheel 5 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, to a position inwardly of the center line of the cap feed wheel pockets as illustrated in Figures 1 and 6. The cooperating inner cam 14 starts inwardly of the pocket center line as seen in Figures 1 and 3 and extends along a radially outwardly directed path closer to the center of the cap feed wheel until each of the inverted caps is reoriented parallel to the plate of the cap feeding star wheel 5 as the caps move into the exit section 12 of the cap chute.

A magnet 22 (Figure 1) is positioned on the outer chute edge and adjacent to the selector exit 12 to insure a final tilting action for the caps 2 being inverted by the cam slot.

It will be seen that an improved high speed cap selector has been provided which is particularly useful for those closure caps which may have irregularities on the cap skirt portions which interfere with a selection in known cap selectors.

This makes the cap selector particularly useful with closure caps having tamperproofing bands with interconnected rip-tabs and also with those caps which may include lift tabs as a portion of the cap skirt structure.

In particular, this makes the cap selector useful with an increasingly popular closure cap style known as composite caps where the caps have molded plastic skirts on which the above noted elements are conveniently formed during the cap skirt molding operations. The improved selector not only operates efficiently with these general types of closures, but is also capable of operating at extremely high cap feed rates for use with the latest high speed container sealing machinery.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its disadvantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims (12)

1. Apparatus for inverting improperly oriented caps or the like in a moving line of randomly oriented caps, comprising a rotatably mounted cap feed wheel having a plurality of spaced cap feeding pockets; a cap guide means for guiding caps in the cap feed wheel pockets; a cap sensing and tilting wheel arranged to be driven in synchronizm with said cap feed wheel and positioned at the exit end of the cap feeding means with its axis positioned generally at right angles to the axis of the cap feeding wheel and having a plurality of radial sensing arms whose outer ends are positioned for engaging the covers of inverted caps in the cap feed wheel pockets; elongated cam means extending around an arcuate path at the outer edge of said cap feed wheel including cap tilting cam surfaces for engaging and inverting those caps engaged by said sensing arms and being advanced in pockets of said cap feed wheel; a channel means adjacent said elongated cam means for receiving and passing correctly oriented caps; and outlet means positioned beyond said cap inverting means and said channel for passing all caps being carried from the cap selector by the cap feed wheel.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 in which the sensing arms for said cap sensing and tilting wheel are relatively broad in a circumferential direction relative to the diameter of the caps and with the outer cap contacting ends of each of said arms comprising a straight central portion terminating in rounded corners.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which said cap feed wheel is operatively coupled to said cap sensing and tilting wheel through a geared connection.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1,2 or 3 which further comprises magnets positioned at the exit end of said elongated cam means for facilitating the final tilting movement of inverted caps.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 in which said magnets comprise elongated magnets extending along the said cam means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim in which said elongated cam means comprises a first arcuate cam plate positioned in an outer portion of said cap guide means and a second cam plate positioned opposite to said first cam plate in an inner portion of said cap guide means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6 in which said guide means further comprises outer cover portions extending from one end to the other and including generally arcuate inner surfaces in cross-section facing said elongated cam means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6 or 7 which further comprises magnets positioned at the end of the first cam plate.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8 in which said magnet comprises an elongated magnet extending along the path of the moving caps in said cam means.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, in which said elongated cam means extends for approximately 1 50" around the circumference of said cap feed wheel.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim in which said cap feed wheel comprises a plurality of semi-circular cap feeding pockets with the cap spacing means between adjacent pockets comprising a relatively thin cap spacing arm extending radially outwardly about one cap radius.

12. Apparatus for inverting improperly oriented caps in a moving line of randomly oriented caps substantially as described and illustrated.