US1817550A - Means for preventing the collapse of containers during vacuumizing, sterilizing, andsealing - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1931. w. B. FENN 1,817,550

MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE COLLAPSE OF CONTAINERS DURING VACUUMIZING,STERILIZING AND SEALING Filed Feb. 19, 29

WILLIAM B, HEN/V avwen fez 33% A4 3 C] [10111 c4 8 size,

Patented Aug. 4, 1 931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM B. mum, or

manner roar MEANS FOR PREVENTING PORT WASHINGTON, NEW-YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 MARGARET F.

WASHINGTON, NEW YORK THE COLLAPSE OF CONTAINERS DURING VACUUMIZING,

STERILIZING; AND SEALING Application filed February 19, 1929. Serial No. 341,126.

v This invention relates in general to a novel method and means for preventing containers of relatively large capacity from collapsing during the vacuumizing, sterilizing and sealing of said containers upon filling said containers with food stuffs. I

In general, with regard to the method, the object is to prevent can-s of relatively large such as quart and gallon cans, from collapsing during the vacuumizing step due to the atmospheric pressure without the can, the object being to vacuumize and sterilize the contents of the container and seal-the container while retaining the walls thereof against inward collapse due to atmospheric ressure during the steps.

With regard to the apparatus, one object is to provide a device which Will attach to the container holding jaws and in part be integral therewith and container against the aforementioned collapse due to the application of external forces.

Another object of this invention is the allocation of magnets at predetermined points along the length of the container which are designed to exert outward pulls at said points when the tendency of the walls of the container is to collapse under the atmospheric forces acting thereon.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a method by means of which valved containers may be vacuumized, filled with any suitable gas and yet retained in their normal shape during said vacuumizing process.

One of the further objects of the invention mechanism by means of which is to provide a being fed to a container the container, upon holding jaw, has, thereafter, its walls pulled outwardly agamst the atmospheric pressure that 1s caused to bear thereon when said contamer 1s vacuumized.

A still further object of this invention is of magnets outside the cylinthe provision of a can to keep said can from drical surface collapsing while being vacuumized.

Various other objects and advantages of the': invention than have been hereinabove mentionedwill be specifically pointed out or retain the walls of saidwill be apparent hereinafter in the course of the below detailed description of the form of the invention shown, in the accompanying drawings, as preferred use of the various possible embodiments of the invention; it being understood, naturally, that'such forms are merely illustrative of some of the many possible combinations and arrangements of parts well calculated to attain the objects of the invention, and hence said detailed description of such form is not to be taken as at all defining or limiting the invention itself. That is to say, the scope of the protection contemplated is, of course, to be taken from the appended claims, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art. This invention resides substantially in the construction, combination, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will be more fully indicated hereinafter. I

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a cross sectional view through a part of the frame of a canning machine showing the relation between the heads and platforms and the mechanism for operating the heads. and platforms and the relation of the main power drive shaft to the remainder of can held by my novel jaw; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. l showing the can holding jaw and the retaining magnets mounted integrally therewith.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the past, various attempts have been made to provide somemethod or means whereby cans of relatively large size are re- .tained against collapse due to atmospheric pressure during the steps of vacuumization, sterilization and sealing. It is the purpose of this" invention to provide a simple, economical, practical, useful, and easily'applied device which can be located onto the jaw proper and hai e all the desirable effects that were sought to attain by these various unsuccessful attempts. It is the further purpose of this invention to construct a device which may be mounted integral with the jaw and to be carried therewith; which will occupy but a small space and, when the jaw is applied, will operate to retain the can against collapse. The general thought of this invention is the provision of a permanent bar magnet or electromagnet mounted integrally within the can holding jawsand which, while the can is held by said jaws, operates to pull the wall of the can outward against atmospheric pressure.

Referring specifically to Fig. 1 we see the operating structure such as is delineated in my copending application Serial N 0. 338,681, filed Feb. 9, 1929, wherein a disclosure is made of a machine which operates to vacuumize, sterilize and seal containers sequentially after the filling of said containers. Although the operation of this machine has been fully described and explained in said copending application I will briefly set forth the various parts shown in Fig. 1 in order that it may be shown how my novel structure may be associated. with the operation of said various parts. 1 is a turret provided with any convenient number of heads or chucks 2. Cans with valve-stems are fed into these heads by means of the table 3 after which pneumatic connection is established between the head and a vacuum pump by means of the pipe 4 and the distributing valves 5 and 6. These valves are adapted to rotate along with the turret 1 and the upper body 7 of the machine.- 8 is a lever carrying thereon a set of jaws 9, 9, the particular structure of which jaws will be discussed more fully hereinafter with respect toFig. 2. The arm 8 is typical of but one operating structure, many of which are carried by the revolving framework on the machine to actuate the jaws which hold a series of cans going through the various steps on said machine. The table 3 is actuated by means of the cam and roller structure 10 which operates in the chamber 11, which chamber is also rotatively carried by the revolving body of the machine 7. The lever 8 is provided with a roller 12 which imparts an axial movement to said lever 8 about a pivot 13 carried on the end of an arm 14, mounted on the body 7, under the control of cams 15. The mechanism is arranged. to swing the jaws into position around a can before the vacuumizing process starts, thus exerting a clamping action on the exterior of the can and holding it when the table 3 drops away from under the can. I The chuck structure 2 then makes airtight contact with'the valve stem mounted on the upper surface of the can and the gases within the can are sucked therefrom by meansof the airtight valve connector 16 which holds the 'can,via said stem sticking from said caiywhile sucl'ring the gases from within sai'd'c ang It is thus apparent that the sequence of oper'ations to perform the particular stepthat we are considering amounts to something like this. A filled can is placed upon the table 3. The roller 10 by going along the proper groove on acam is actuated to raise the table 3, bring the stem attached to the upper surface of the can into the chuck connector element 16 whereupon the chuck connector element acts to make a sealtight connection between the pipe t and the interior of said can. The can is-simultane ously grasped by-the jaw elements 9, 9 due to the lever 8 being actuated by the cams 15. The table 3 is then permitted to drop away and the can is held by means of the jaw up against the airtight connector 16 during the process of vacuumization. The gases drawn from within the can are sucked through the element 16 down the pipe 4 and out to the atmosphere. Then sterilization may be accomplished by means of directing a flow of steam or superheated steam through the solid matter contained within the container and thereafter inert gases may then be shot back through the distributing valves 5 and 6, as the case may be, down the pipe 4 and into the can to replace the inert gases that were therewithin. It is during the time that vacuumization takes place that all the wellknown difficulties were encountered due to the fact that the jaw gripping the can tends to force the walls thereof inward and when the air that was within the can was sucked therefrom together with any other gases that might be therewithin the atmospheric pressure coming to play on the outside of the can would, if the can were of relatively large size, tend to cause said can to collapse under the influence of the atmospheric pressure. I have found that the adaptation of my novel jaw to this machine prevents this most undesirable effect. It is apparent that where the walls of the can are comparatively thick with respect to the corresponding length of the can no such difiiculty would be encountered. In other words, where a can of short length is used there would not be much occasion to worry about collapse due to atmospheric pressure during the step of vacuumization. However, it has been noted that when the can approaches the quart or gallon size the length of the can becomes prohibitive for the thickness of the can and j the atmospheric pressure brought to bear upon the can will act to cause a collapse usually at a point half way down the length of the can. It is common experience that the weakest point in a given lever is the center point thereon when the two ends thereof are supported and with this thought in mind the purpose of this invention is to provide some" means at this weakest point to pull outwards when normally all the forces due to atmospheric pressure aretending to act inwards. Thus, by locating my novel jaw at a 'point' about half way down the length of the can, by mounting in said jaw some device whereby the can is pulled normally outwards,

and by mounting said jaw at what is apparently the weakest point along the length of the can I am able to prevent collapse of the troublesome large size cans during the various vacuumizing, sterilizing, and sealing steps.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the body structure 7 of the revolvable machine, as disclosed in my above mentioned copending application, is shown partially in section containing therein particularly a pipe 17 which makes the proper pneumatic connection with the distributing valves 5 and 6. This pipe 17 running down the center of the machine casing provides both an inflow and an outflow path to allow the egress of air and the ingress of steam and inert gases to be used within the can. Also mounted within the body structure may be seen the gear structure 18, the lower ball bearing structure 19, and the upper ball bearing structure 20, all of which are adapted to provide the necessary rotatability of the body 7, 7 about the center axis of the machine which is supported and carried on a base element 21.

Although now I have described the gen' eral operating characteristics of my machine somewhat after the fashion as I have described it in my copending application hereinbefore mentioned, I do not intend to have the steps herein mentioned nor the structure herein disclosed to be taken as at all defining or limiting the scope of this invention but intend them to be but merely illustrative and explanatory of the novel operation and structure of my retaining jaw and to show the association between a typical machine and my retaining jaw. 1

Referring particularly to the jaw structure, which constitutes in the main the body of this invention, it will be seen that in Fig. 2 I have by dot and dash lineindicated the theoretical circumference of a given large sized can which we will call 22. The jaws 9,

. 9 are hinged together about a pivot 23. The

outer lock and large jaw carries thereon ears 24, 24 through which there are'drilled holes and through. which holes pass a bolt 25 having a head 26 about which bolt is coiled a spring 31- for normally keeping the ears apart. The bolt is also threaded at its outermost end to receive the lock nuts 27. Mounted in each jaw element 9 is shown a permanent bar magnet 28 having at its one end a north" pole and at its other end a south pole. The two north poles shown at 29, 29 are adapted to meet the can and exert magnetic pull thereon while mechanically and simultaneously acting as jaws. The two south poles 30, 30 are adapted to come together and meet to form one projecting-lug 3030. It

is now apparent that the mechanism is arranged to swing the magnets 28, 28 into posi-' tion around the can before the vacuumizing "process and as a necessary result of the clamping process when the jaws are brought to clamp upon the can and hold it. Thus, while clamping the can, the magnets are brought into active coaction with the walls of the can. Thus, while the can is clamped, a pull is exerted on the exterior thereof at the weakest point along its length and its collapse is therebyprevented.

When the vacuumizing process is completed and the inert gas is admitted to the container via the distributing valves 5 and 6 the container is then sealed oil and the lever 8 swings back into its normal position releasing the jaws from" their normal position about the can and necessarily withdraw-' ing the magnets from the proximity of the can and thus completing the cycle of operations.

I have found that the necessary pole area of the magnet that must be used is of not very great magnitude; that-the pole area if slightly larger than the ordinary size of jaw that one would use for merely clamping the can will suffice. I have also found that the magnetic circuit which is complete from north to south pole through the can wall itself is not greatly disturbed by the fact that the reluctance thereof is continually varied when the cansare inserted and removed from' the jaws. that the adaptation of this magnet structure to an ordinary jaw can be cheap of installation, occupy but small space and have a very efiective, desirable and coincidental efiect.

Inasmuch as many changes may be made in the above constructions, and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or I have also found shown in the accompanying drawings will be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limit ing sense. It is also to be understood that the language contained in the following 1 claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which philologically speaking, and

as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In the type of apparatus described, in combination with means for vacuumizing a container subject to collapse, of magnetic means adapted to prevent collapse of the container during the process of vacuumizing the latter.

2. In the type of apparatus describedfin combination with means for vacuumizing a container subject to collapse, and means for holding the can during vacuumizing, of magnetic means outside the container for preventing collapse thereof during vacuumizing, and means whereby fluid may be intro duced in the vacuumized container while the latter is under the collapse preventing influence of the said magnetic means.

3. In an apparatus of the type described the combination with means for vacuumizing a container subject to collapse, of magnetic means for preventing collapse of the container while the interior thereof is subject to sub-atmospheric pressures.

4. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combination of means for supporting the container during vacuumization, and magnetic-means associated with the container for supporting it against collapse during vacuumization.

5. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combination comprising a movable support for the container,

magnetic means for preventing collapse of the container during vacuumization, and means for moving the magnetic means into cooperative relation with the container upon movement of said movable support.

6. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combination comprising a movable support for the container, magnetic means movably attached to said support, and means for moving the magnetic means into cooperation with the container during its vacuumization.

7. In a vacuumizing apparatus for collapsible containers the combination compris ing a movable support for the container, magnetic means movably attached to said support, and means cooperating with the movable support, means for causing it to move into cooperation with the container upon movement of said movable support.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 6th day of February A. D., 1929.

WILLIAM B. FENN.

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