207,913. Meadowcroft & Son, Ltd., W., and Meadowcroft, W. Sept. 19, 1922. Bottling; capsules, applying.-A combined bottle syruping and sealing machine is provided with automatic bottle-transferring apparatus which conveys bottles to the syruping-head, transfers them to a rotary filling-machine, removes the filled bottles to the sealing-machine, and transfers the sealed bottles to a position in which they can be removed from the machine by the operator. The transferring apparatus comprises a series of jaws adapted to receive an intermittent rotary motion about a cenral axis and provided with mechanism for enabling them to grip and release bottles of varying diameters. The horizontal driving-shaft 3, Figs. 1 and 2, which carries a cam 7 to intermittently rotate a star-wheel 8, is driven through gearing 4, 6, Fig. 3, from the driving-shaft of a suitable multipleheaded rotary filler such as that described in Specification 207,304. The wheel 8 is connected to a bevel-wheel 11 gearing with a pinion 14 on a shaft 15 free to rotate in a bearing 16 on a stationary table 17. A drum 20 which is free to revolve round the shaft 15 rests on a collar 18 on the shaft, and a spring plate 21 on the top of the drum is keyed to the shaft. On the top of the plate 21 is a drum 23 free to revolve round the shaft 15. The drum carries metal arms 54 for gripping the bottles. A cam 30 on the cam 7 intermittently raises and lowers a rod 31 having an adjustable shoe 32 against which bears one end of a lever 35 the other end of which is supported by a flanged stud 37 screwed into a plunger 38 connected by a rod 41 to a crank 44 on a horizontal shaft 40. The shaft 40 is rotated intermittently about the axis of the shaft 15, and it is also rotated on its own axis by the crank 44. One side of a bevel-pinion 46 on the shaft 40 meshes with teeth 49 on the drum 20, and the other side with teeth 50 on the drum 23, the drums being returned to their original positions by springs 51 attached to the plate 21. In operation, a bottle is placed at A, Fig. 3, on the table 17, and the cam releases the rod 31, whereupon the springs 51 rotate the drums 20, 23 and cause the arms 54 to grip each side of the bottle. The cam 7 then rotates the wheel 8 and the bottle is taken to position B under the syruping head-cone 55. Next, the cam 30 lifts the rod 31, thus opening the arms 54 to release the bottle whilst 'in the centre of the bottle-rest 56, which is then raised by a cam 57 and spring 61 to bring the bottle against the cone 55, the upward movement of which causes a plunger 63 containing a. check valve 64 to open a valve 67 and brings a washer 68 against a sleeve 69 carrying washers 70, 71, which are then forced upwards, thereby injecting syrup contained in a pump barrel 73 past valves 67, 64 and into the bottle. The cam 57 next releases the bottle-rest which descends; and the plunger 63 is pulled down by springs 77. the packings 70, 71 as they pass down the barrel 73 drawing in a further charge of syrup past. a spring-controlled valve 75 from a chamber 76. After several bottles have been placed in position A, transferred to position B, syruped and moved to position C on the filling-machine, they commence to come out of the latter at posiion D, where they are engaged by the arms 54 and moved to position E on the bottle-rest 83 for sealing. A cam 84 and spring 88 raises the rest 83 and bottle to the crowning-head 98 on the bridge 80 which carries the syrup pump-case 79. A pawl 94 allows the seals to pass singly down the shoot 95 and is operated by a lever 92 actuated by a plunger 91 with which the seal on the bottle comes into contact. Apparatus within the hopper for keeping the crown-cork seals in motion is driven through gearing 106, 107, shaft 108, and gearing 109, 110 from a wheel 4 on the shaft 3, clutch teeth on the spring-pressed wheel 110 gearing with similar teeth on the wheel 14. Rotary sleeves 99 at the ends of the bridge 80 are screwed internally to engage screwed pillars 100 on the table 17, and worm-wheels 99 at the erds of the sleeves gear with worms 102 on a shaft 103 supported in bearings 104 on the bridge 80. By turning a hand-wheel 105 on the shaft 103, the distance between the table 17 and bridge 80 can be adjusted to suit bottles of different lengths. When the machine is used for bottle transferring and sealing only, the cam 57 is moved out of contact with the roller 58 by a lever 112 which slides on a rod 113. When the machine is used for syruping and transferring bottles only, the bottles not being of a type which the machine can seal and crown, the cam 84 is moved along the shaft 3 and out of contact with the roller 85 by means of a lever similar to the lever 112; simultaneously a fork 114 is disengaged from the wheel 110, which is then moved out of gear with the wheel 4 by a spring 111 so that the hopper agitating-mechanism remains stationary. Automatic knock-off motion for stopping the machine, when the bottles, are left on the table 17 instead of being removed from the position F comprises a trigger 115, Fig. 4, connected by a square shaft 116 to a spring- pressed lever 117 which holds a catch 119 against a rod 120 free to slide in a bracket 121 on the table 17. A pin 122, Fig. 3, couples the rod 120 to the clutch lever 123 of a suitable multipleheaded rotary filling-machine, so that when the lever 123 is pulled into driving position, the catch 119 engages a nick 124 in the rod 120 and holds the lever 123, whereupon the pulley 125 engages a clutch 126 on the rotary filler 127, thus driving the. latter and also the syruping, bottle-transferring and sealing machine by means of the pinion 6 gearing with the wheel 4. When a bottle is left in the position F, the arms 54 again grip the bottle and try to move it to the position A, thereby forcing the trigger 115 towards the position A and releasing the rod 120 and allowing the lever 123 to disengage the pulley 125 from the clutch 126 thereby stopping both the filler and the syruper, transferrer, and sealer.