GB2258861A

GB2258861A - Article rotating unit.

Info

Publication number: GB2258861A
Application number: GB9114128A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard John Oulton
Original assignee: HILLSMEN ENGINEERING Ltd
Current assignee: HILLSMEN ENGINEERING Ltd
Priority date: 1991-06-29
Filing date: 1991-06-29
Publication date: 1993-02-24
Also published as: GB9114128D0

Abstract

An article rotating unit comprises a block 11 with an aperture 12 of substantially uniform cross-section cut to form a helical passage extending from end to end through the block. The aperture has a cross-section of the general shape of the axial cross-section of the article to be turned but of slightly greater dimensions than the cross-section of the article. The block may be constructed from two or more blocks, to facilitate machining of the aperture and, when assembled, the block may be of rectangular or other multi-sided cross section to facilitate securement of the block in use. The helical path may be substantially uniform throughout the length of the block but for other embodiments the rate of rotation of the helical path may vary. <IMAGE>

Description

"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO ARTICLE ROTATION DEVICES" The present invention relates to article rotation devices, more particularly, to a device for rotating moving articles about an axis generally parallel to the direction of displacement of the articles.

In many article displacing industrial processes it is necessary to rotate articles about an axis parallel to the direction of displacement of the articles and commonly such articles are turned through 90 degrees, 180 degrees or 360 degrees. By way of example, in apparatus for cleaning containers such as bottles and jars, the containers may be washed whilst in upright positions, that is with their open ends uppermost, the articles are then inverted to allow liquid or contaminates to fall or drain therefrom, the containers may be further processed, for example subjected to forced air drying, whilst in the inverted positions and the inverted articles must then be again rotated through 180 degrees to present the containers for further processing, such as for conveyance to a container charging apparatus.

It well knows in the art to rotate moving articles about an axis extending in the direction of displacement of the articles using rails which follow a helical path. However, such conventional article-turning apparatus using open rails are noisy and of substantial length, which is frequently inconvenient in the article processing plant.

In British Patent No. 1533581 there is disclosed a device for rotating articles comprising a substantially cylindrical passage formed in a cylindrical block, with two diametrically opposite helical paths each comprising a respective channel cut into the internal surface of the cylindrical passage. In a preferred embodiment each channel extends transversely through the cylindrical block such that the cylindrical block comprises two helical members. This embodiment has been marketed for a number of years.

However, the disclosure in Patent No. 15333581 is limited to the block being cylindrical, which presents problems in mounting and supporting the block in a production line. Essentially the prior art device requires at least one yoke, including at least one cylindrical element, for supporting the cylindrical block. In practise, the yoke must be substantial and such yokes are expensive. Further, when the device is constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment, wherein the cylindrical block comprises two parts, there are problems in actually locating and maintaining the two block parts in their desired relationship in the yoke.

The present invention seeks to provide an article rotation unit which can be mounted substantially directly in the production line, without the use of a complicated and expensive yoke.

According to the present invention there is provided an article rotation unit comprising a block of material, of multi-side cross-section, with a non-circular aperture of substantially uniform cross-section cut to form a helical passage extending from end to end of the block.

Preferably the aperture hasa cross-section of the general shape of the axial cross-section through an article to be turned, but of slightly greater dimensions than the cross-section of the article to be turned.

In one embodiment in accordance with the invention selected surfaces of the aperture may be undercut to reduce the total area of the walls of the aperture contactable by an article being turned.

In one embodiment in accordance with the invention the rotation of the aperture, to follow its helical path along the block, is substantially uniform along the length of the block.

In another embodiment in accordance with the invention the rotation of the aperture through the block is non-uniform.

Thus, for example, when the centre of gravity of an article being rotated in the aperture passes over the lowermost corner of the article, whereupon gravity assists in the continuing rotation of the article, the rate of rotation of the aperture through the block may increase.

In a preferred embodiment the block is of rectangular, and more preferably square, cross-section.

In another embodiment the cross-section of the block is hexagonal.

In a further embodiment the cross-section of the block is octagonal.

In one embodiment in accordance with the invention the block is a composite block comprising two or more blocks secured together in end to end relationship so as to form a continuous helical aperture through the composite block.

In another embodiment the block is a composite block comprising lengths of block material secured together in parallel relationship to define the desired cross section for the composite block.

In one such embodiment the composite block comprises two block halves joined together at a plane parallel with external faces of the composite block.

In another embodiment the composite block comprises two block parts joined together in parallel relationship with the joining surfaces of the two blocks parallel with the major axis of the aperture in all cross-sections at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the composite block.

In another embodiment the joining surfaces of the two block parts lie at right angles to the major axis of the aperture in all cross-sections at right angles to the major axis of the composite block.

In another embodiment the composite block is made by joining four or more blocks in parallel relationship.

The present invention also envisages an article turning device in accordance with the invention in combination with lining means for the helical aperture.

Preferably said lining means are interchangeable with lining means of different cross-section.

The present invention also envisages an article turning device in accordance with the invention in combination with an article processing apparatus, including conveying means for conveying articles in succession to and into the aperture through the article turning device.

The invention will now be described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an article turning device in accordance with the invention, Fig. 2 shows an axial view of the device illustrated in Fig.

1, Fig. 3 shows an axial view of article turning device similar to Fig. 2 but with a differently shaped aperture therethrough.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of part of a composite block illustrating one method of construction, Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of part of a composite block illustrating a second method of construction and, Fig. 6 shows, in perspective view, a further embodiment for an article rotation device.

In the example illustrated in Fig. 1 the article turning device comprises a block 11 of square cross-section with an aperture 12 passing through the block from end face lia to end face lib of said block 11. The aperture 12 is of rectangular configuration, having a length L (the major axis) and a width W (the minor axis) and at the end face lia the aperture 12 has the longitudinal axis X of its cross section substantially vertical when the block 11 has its top face llc and its bottom face ild lying in horizontal planes.

In the illustrated embodiment the centre of the aperture 12 lies on the central axis of the block 11 extending from end face Ila to end face lib.

As will be seen from the broken lines in Fig. 1 the aperture 12 follows a helical path through the block 11, and the longitudinal axis X of the cross-section of the aperture 12 rotates uniformly along the length of the block 11 so as to lie in a horizontal plane at the end face lle. Thus, a generally rectangular article such as a wide-mouth jar having a length smaller than the length L and a width smaller than the width W entered into the aperture 12 at end face Ila and pushed through the block 11 will be rotated in passage through the block 11 so as to have its longitudinal axis X lying in a horizontal plane when the article is expelled through the aperture 12 at face llb.

The block 11 conveniently includes vertical apertures 13 passing through the block 11 from top face 11c to bottom face lld, said apertures 13 are located adjacent the corners of the faces lic and lid, and said apertures 13 are so located that they do not break into the helical passage defined by the aperture 12.

Thus, when the block 11 is located in an assembly line with its lower surface lid supported in a horizontal plane, bolts (not shown) can pass through the apertures 13 into engagement with nut elements in the apparatus supporting the block 11, whereby the block 11 can be directly secured to the processing apparatus without the use of a yoke.

The top surface l2a, the bottom surface 12b and the sides 12c and 12d of the aperture 12 may be under-cut at their mid-regions, as shown in broken line at end face ila in Fig. 2 and identified by reference 14, and the undercuts 14 are continued along the length of the helical aperture 12, maintaining a substantially uniform cross-section for the aperture 12, to reduce the area of the contact between the walls 12a, 12b, 12c or 12d of aperture 12 and the article being turned.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3 the aperture 21 has the cross-section of a container with a neck and thus the mid-regions of the top surface 12a of the aperture are undercut, as illustrated by numeral 15, to accommodate the neck part of the article being turned.

With such an arrangement, and depending upon the dimensions of the neck part of the container, the centre of area of the aperture may be displaced upwardly or downwardly from the axis of the block 11 to allow the smallest crosssection of the block 11 to be used and, perhaps more important, to allow the centre-of-gravity of the article being turned to follow the axis of the block 11.

For the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and Fig.

3 the block 11 with the aperture 12 can be moulded from a suitable moulding material, such as a plastics material. When the material for moulding is unsuitable for contact with the articles being turned the aperture 12 can be moulded to be oversize and liners or rubbing strips (not shown), of a material suited for contact with the articles being turned, can be secured along the aperture 12 to define the surfaces for contracting such articles.

The use of liners in an oversized aperture 12 has the further advantage that liners of different shape and configuration can be used in the aperture 12 and whereby a common block may, with a selection of interchangeable liners, selectively process any one of a plurality of differently shaped containers.

In another method for construction the aperture 12 may be cut from a solid block of material by drilling a hole longitudinally through the block, of a diameter equal to the width dimension W of the desired aperture 12, and then machining the aperture 12 to the desired cross-section on any machine tool having a tool, or tool bar, linearly displaceable along the said hole for the length of the block 11, in combination with an indexing device for angularly displacing the block 11 about its central axis. Thus, the aperture 12 can be machined on a modified lathe, a shaping machine, or a broaching machine.

In prior art devices for rotating an article through 180 degrees the device is conventionally made in one piece and the machining of the aperture is complicated thereby.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 and 2, described hereabove, the block 11 is of square cross-section and an article entering the aperture 12 is rotated through 90 degrees in passing along the aperture 12 to the face lib, so that the block 11 is relatively short.

When a turning device for the rotating of articles through 180 degrees is required it is only necessary to make two identical blocks 11 and support the said two blocks 11 together in end to end relationship such that the helical aperture 12 through the block assembly uniformly rotates an article through 180 degrees.

With such a composite block, with each block part rotating the article through 90 degrees, the top and bottom faces llc and ild of both blocks are contiguous.

The blocks can be attached to the processing-apparatus independently, by bolts passing through their respective apertures 13, but for some applications the two blocks 11 may conveniently include apertures 16 extending longitudinally therethrough and longitudinal tie bolts (not shown) may extend through said apertures 16 to clamp the two blocks 11 in end to end relationship. It will be appreciated that the apertures 16 should be so located that they do not break into the aperture 12 of the blocks 11 or into the apertures 13.

By using a standard degree of rotation for the aperture of blocks, 90 degrees for a square block , 60 degrees for a block of hexagonal cross-section or 45 degrees for a block of octagonal cross section, any desired degree of rotation of an article can be obtained by building composite blocks in end to end relationship and cutting the composite block to the desired length and, for each cross section of block, the composite assembly will always present a contiguous undersurface for support by the processing apparatus.

Further, by using an article turning device comprising relatively short blocks in end to end assembly, the machining of the blocks is greatly facilitated.

As stated hereinbefore the machining of long complex apertures through a block is a highly skilled and painstaking task requiring very specialized machine tools, and Fig. 4 shows one method for facilitating the machining of the helical passage 12.

For this embodiment the block 11 is split along a horizontal plane Y mid-way between the top and bottom surfaces 11c and Ild, to define two identical blocks lle, llf, as viewed in Fig. 1, each having a width A twice its height B.

Fig 4 shows bottom block llf machined to define that part of the aperture 12 below the plane Y.

It will be clearly evident that with the working of the block substantially confined to the cutting of a groove or trough in the surface 11h of block llf, the machining is greatly facilitated and may, for example, be undertaken on a conventional milling machine provided with an indexing mechanism for rotating the block lif, The second block ile for the block 11 will have that part of the aperture 12 above the splitting plane Y machined into its surface parallel with, and remote from, surface llc.

Again, that part of the aperture 12 in the block half 11e will be an open groove or trough and readily machined by a conventional milling machine, provided with an indexing mechanism for rotating the block half lle about an axis parallel of a longitudinal axis of the block half lie.

The two block halfs lle, llf, may conveniently, when assembled, be accurately located by bolts (not shown) passing through the apertures 13 of the two block halfs lie, lif, but in another arrangement the two halves may be secured together by adhesive means and/or by pin or bolt means passing through the two block halves lle and lif.

In a further modification for the manufacture of a block 11 the basic block 11 may be split in a horizontal plane Y and in a vertical plane mid-way between the side faces of the block 11 so as to provide four blocks, such as the block 21 illustrated in Fig. 5, each having a width C half the width of the block 11 and a height D half the height of the block 11.

Thus, in the example illustrated in Fig. 5, that part of the aperture 12 within each quarter block 21 is readily machined into the block 21 and the four blocks 21 can be assembled and secured together as by bolts (not shown) passing through apertures 22, and the bolts through apertures 13, to make a composite block 11 with the continuous aperture 12 of the desired cross-section passing helically therethrough.

I2hilst for the examples illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 the said half blocks in Fig. 4 and the quarter blocks in Fig. 5 have been described as derived by splitting a standard block 11 it will be appreciated that for the example illustrated in Fig. 4 the half block lie, llf, may be made independently and, for the example illustrated in Fig. 5, the quarter blocks 21 may be made independently. As the block 11 can be substantial in dimensions the ability to use smaller block sizes to make composite blocks 11 not only facilitates moulding of the composite parts but also facilitates manufacture of the block 11 will, in many cases, reduce the overall costs for the completed block 11.

The method for constructing the block 11 from a plurality of block parts, as shown in the examples in Figs. 4 and 5, further facilitates the fitting of liners, whereupon a basic composite block 11 with a basic aperture 12 therethrough can be fitted with liners to allow the basic block to accommodate any desired shape and configuration for the articles to be processed through the device.

Fig. 6 shows a further method for making a composite block 31, said block 31 presenting end faces 31a, 31b, top surface 31c and bottom surface 31d and side surfaces 31e, 31f.

The block 31 is split by sawing the block on a band saw, starting the cut at a plane Y mid-way between top and bottom surfaces 31c, 31d and angularly displacing the block 31, independence upon the linear speed of the band saw, so that the block 31 is rotated through 90 degrees in passage of the band saw through the block to complete the cut in a plane midway between the side faces 31e and 31f of the block 11.

Thus, block 31 is cut to form two identical block halves 32 and 33, block 32 is shown in full line in Fig. 6 and block 33 is shown in broken line.

The blocks 32, 33 each presents a curved sawn surface 32a, 33a, respectively, and the aperture 12 is cut into said surfaces 32a and 33a, conveniently using a conventional milling machine provided with an indexing mechanism for angularly displacing the block halves 32 or 33.

It should be observed that the part of the aperture 12 cut into block 32, at each cross-section of the block 32 at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said block 32, has its bottom surface 12b parallel to the surface 32a and its sides 12c, 12d at right angles to the plane of the surface 32a. In like manner that part of the aperture 12 in block 33 has its top 12a parallel with the surface 33a and its side surfaces 12c, 12d at right angles with the surface 33a in all crosssections through block 33 at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the block 33.

It will now be seen that, for the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, the machining of the aperture 12 is greatly simplified.

It will be appreciated that the undercuts 14 illustrated in Fig. 2 can be readily included in the block halves 32, 33.

As with the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4 the two block halves 32, 33 may be secured together by adhesive, pins or bolts to make the composite block 31 secure.

The article turning devices described above can be inserted into an article processing plant for the containers and such an article turning device may be located at the end of a conveyor for the article with the axis of the aperture 12 in line with the articles on the conveyor. In some examples the conveyor may displace the articles over a dead plate for entry into the aperture 12 but in other arrangements the lower regions of the leading end of the block are machined away so that the conveyor feeds articles directly into the aperture 12.

Irrespective of how the articles are supplied into the aperture 12 said articles are pushed through the aperture 12 by the succeeding articles and are expelled from the downstream end of the block onto a further article receiving means, such as a conveying means.

Whilst the present invention has been described by way of example with reference to specific embodiments the invention is not restricted thereto and many modifications and variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An article rotation unit comprising a block of material, of multi-side cross-section, with a non-circular aperture of substantially uniform cross-section cut to form a helical passage extending from end to end of the block.

2. An article rotation unit according to claim 1.

characterised in that the aperture has a cross-section of the general shape of the axial cross-section through an article to be turned, but of slightly greater dimensions than the cross-section of the article to be turned.

3. An article rotation unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that selected surfaces of the aperture are undercut to reduce the total area of the walls of the aperture contactable by an article being turned.

4. An article rotation unit according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterised in that the rotation of the aperture, to follow its helical path through the block, is substantially uniform along the length of the block.

5. An article rotation unit according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterised in that the rotation of the aperture through the block is non-uniform.

6. An article rotation unit according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterised in that the block is of rectangular cross-section.

7. An article rotation unit according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterised in that the cross-section of the block is hexagonal.

8. An article rotation unit according to claims 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterised in that the cross-section of the block is octagonal.

9. An article rotation unit according to any preceding claim characterised in that the block is a composite block, comprising two or more blocks secured together in end to end relationship so as to form a continuous helical aperture through the composite block.

10. An article rotation unit according to any preceding claim characterised in that the block is a composite block comprising lengths of block material secured together in parallel relationship to define the desired cross-section for the composite block.

11. An article rotation unit according to claim 9 or 10 characterised in that the composite block comprises two block halves joined together at a plane parallel with external faces of the composite block.

12. An article rotation unit according to claim 9, 10 or 11 characterised in that the composite block comprises two block parts joined together in parallel relationship with the joining surfaces of the two blocks parallel with the major axis of the aperture in all cross-sections at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the composite block.

13. An article rotation unit according to claim 9, 10, 11 or 12 characterised in that the joining surfaces of the two block parts lie at right angles to the major axis of the aperture in all cross-sections at right angles to the major axis of the composite block.

14. An article rotation unit according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the composite block is made by joining four or more blocks in parallel relationship.

15. An article rotation unit according to any one of the preceding claims characterised by lining means for the helical aperture.

16. An article rotation unit according to claim 15 characterised in that said lining means are interchangeable with lining means of different cross-section.

17. An article processing apparatus comprising an article turning device according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with conveying means for conveying articles in succession to the aperture through the article turning device.

18. An article rotation unit substantially as herein before described with reference to and also illustrated in Figs 1 and 2, Fig 3, Fig 4, Fig 5 or Fig 6 of the accompanying drawings.