US1941168A - Bottle filling and crowning machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1933. Jbw FLOWER 1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 25, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FTE Dec.-26, 1933. J. w. FLOWER 1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 26, 1933. J. w. FLOWER BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet O www fae Dec. 26 1933. J. w. FLOWER 1,941,168

BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNING MACHINE Filed May 26, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 dA/fz'ah ls Patented Dec. 26, 1933 PATENT OFFICE v BOTTLE FILLING AND CROWNIN G MACHINE John Walter Flower, Wimborne, England Application May 26, 1930,Serial No. 455,774, and in Great Britain May 30, 1929 4 Claims. ,(01. 22698) This invention relates to rotary. counter pressure bottle filling machines and the filling and crowning heads therefor.

The primary object of the inventionis the pro '5 vision in a machine of the above type of a liquid discharge outlet that directs the liquid in radial manner; Thus the liquid falls against and gravi tates down the inner side, of a bottle into which the outlet isintroduc'ed. By this means fobbing of the liquid and consequent lossof gas, usually CO2, contained in the liquid is reduced to a minimum. Further, the tube or conduit in which the discharge outlet is needs to. extend into the bottle only a short distance and the stroke'of the bottle to and from the head before and after filling may be of correspondingly short length.

l A crowning head or heads are incorporated with the filling head or heads so that the crown ing operation can be performed easily and quick- 1y after the filling. The crowning heads may be in accordance with my co-pending application forLetters Patent Serial No. 456,641, filed May 28, 1930. the crowning heads slidably on or with respect to the filling heads so that the said crowning heads can be placed over and in alignment with filled .bottles for crowning and thereafter retracted. 1

According to one method of carrying my invention into effect I provide a filling cock rotatably mounted in the filling and crowning head. Drilled in the filling and crowning head are two passages connected respectively tothe counter pressure gas and to the liquid supply, and a third passage for the return of counter pressure gas from the bottles, say to the top of the liquid supply chamber. g The body of the cock is so apertured and bored and communicates with the said passages and with the bottle filling tube or conduit which extends downwardlyfrom the filling and crowning. head that, with a bottle positioned below the filling tube, a certain sequence of filling operationsjiseifected upon rotation of the 'cock. The'filling cock is preferably provided with an operating head or v key having six equally spaced arms and the ports in the filling cock are advantageously so arranged that two bottles are filled perrevolution of the filling. cock. j g

The filling tube is provided with an inner or gas tube, the annular space between these two tubes forming theliquid inlet and being in communication with the filling cock. The lower end ofthe gas tube is provided with the radial discharge outlet in the form of an outwardly pro- This application includes mounting 'jecting annular shoulder or equivalent" with the filling tube (outer tube) terminating a little above this shoulder so that liquid passing down the annular space is deflected outwardly, i. e. radially, when it reaches the shoulder.

A cushion or packing surrounds the outer tube near the top thereof and prior to the filling operation the bottle is pressed up against this pack ing with the two concentric tubes extending down a short distance into the bottle neck.

The machine is suitable for filling beers, etc. into bottles, and may also be used for mineral waters with the addition of a suitable syruping device where necessary. The machine is however suitable for filling all kinds of liquids whether carbonated or still and the filling device may be used separately or in conjunction with other corking means. 7 Y

A rotary filling and crowning'machine with a counter pressure liquid feed in accordance with the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 isa front elevation of the machine with some of the parts-omitted.

-Fig. 2,is a part plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale primarily of one of the filling and crowning heads.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the said head and v Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof. I a

a Fig. 6 shows four sectionsof the plug in Fig. 3 taken on diflerent planes.

Fig. '7 is a vertical section through part of the lower end of the machine, more particularly through the oil container and a cylinder and its inlet and relief valves.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of part of the liquid feed pan-and I Fig. 9 is a detail in connection with an automatic declutching mechanism.

in the example according to the drawings the filling heads 1 are carried by arms 2 projecting radially from the underside. of a feed pan 3 mounted on a flange 4 at the upper end of a sleeve 5. The sleeve extends downwardly into an oil container 6 at the lower part of the machine and its end is co-axially fixed to a worm wheel '7. The worm wheel carries a number of hydraulic cylinders such as 8 received by bores 9 spaced around it and each bore and hence .each cylinder is aligned with one of the heads 1. A further support for the cylinders 8 is provided by a cover plate 10 fixed to a flange 5' on the sleeve 5. A

worm 11 supported by the wall 6' of the container 6 and driven from a suitable clutch rotates the wheel '7 and thus the cylinders, sleeve, and heads, etc. on top and bottom bearings 12 and 13 carried on a vertical shaft or column 14 fixed centrally of the bed plate 15.

The bottles to be filled and crowned are placed on a conveyor 16 whence they are transferred to stirrups 17 by a star wheel 13 driven by the stirrups engaging with rollers 19 on the underside of the said wheel. This manner of driving the wheel ensures that the bottles pass into the stirrups without fouling the sides thereof. In order to prevent bottles jamming between the points of the star wheel and a guide rail 20 a bell-crank lever 21 is pivoted on the conveyor table 22. The rollers 19 rock the lever as they pass its free end so as to turn the rubber-padded end of a lever 23 into the path of the bottles and check the leading bottles one by one until such time asthey become correctly spaced with respect to the star wheel points. The levers 2i and 23 are movably connected together by a rod 24 and the parts are returned to the position shown by a suitably arranged spring.

As each stirrup passes the bottle-receiving p0- siticn the rams 25 on the upper ends of which the stirrups are mounted are forced upwardly due to the hydraulic pressure produced in the cylinders 8 when pistons such as 26 on which rollers 27 are arranged are forced within the cylinder due to a rise in the cam track 28 as set out in my copending application Serial No. 456,232, filed May 2'7, 1930.

This upward movement introduces a liquid filling tube 29 and a gas tube 30 co-axial therewith in the head 1 into the neck of the bottle, and presses the mouth of the bottle against an indiarubber sealing pad 31. The gas tube is sur rounded by the filling tube in spaced relation so as to provide an annular passage 32 and the lower end of the tube 30 is shouldered at 33 whilst the end of the tube 29 is spaced from the shoulder and thereby provides an annular outlet with the shoulder 33 at the bottom thereof.

The head has a plug 34 on the stem of which is a six point star wheel 35 and as the head continues its travel the point in position 36 (Fig. 4) strikes a plunger 3'? fixed on the machine and turns the plug through 60. Upon the initial part of this turn the tube 36 and the passage areconnected with a snift hole 38 in the valve body and opening to atmosphere, by way of the lower parts of gas and liquid ducts 39 and 4c re spectively in the valve body and a channel in the surface of the plug 34, thus any liquid left in the tube and the passage 32 from a previousfilling runs into the bottle. The inner tube 30 then opened to the gas under pressure in the pan 3 by way of a passage 42 in the plug, a passage 43 in the head and arm 2, and a tube 44 with its mouth in the gas at the top of the pan,

whilst. the annular space remains in communication with the hole 38 due to communication with 41. The gas under pressure thus fills the bottle and exhausts the stale air and gases the bottle may contain through the hole 38 which may, if desired, be controlled by a needle valve (not shown) to prevent the too rapid exhaus 'ng of the bottle and wasteful outflow of the pres 1.. gas. 7 The final part of the first 60 turn completely isolates the bottle from atmosphere and keeps the said bottle in communication with the gas under pressure which continues to flow into it until such time as the pressures within the bottle and pan are balanced.

complete emptying of a gas return passage 4'7,

since any liquid left in this passage from a previousfilling will interfere with or. even prevent the filling of the succeeding bottles. Continued turning of the plug moves the channel 46 clear of .38 and 40 so as to seal the bottle from atmosphere, whilst a groove 48 in the periphery of the plug connects the lower part of 39 to the gas return tube 47 and due to the pressure in the bottle having been made lower than that in the pan a sharp down or back fiow of the gas occurs and efiectively empties the tube 47. Near the end of the said second 60 turn of the plug a diametral duct 49 connects the upper and lower parts of the duct 40 and a flow of liquid from a passage 50 in the arm 2 and valve body takes place and enters the bottle by way of the annular space 32 and the annular discharge outlet from which the liquid discharges radially due to the shoulder 33 and downwardly so as to gravitate down the sides of the bottle and not fob, the displaced gas returning to the top of the pan by way of the tube 30 and a conduit provided by 39, 48 and 47 and a tube 47 which opens into the top of the pan.

The machine continuesits travel whilst the bottle is filling and finally the star wheel point 51, now in the position initially occupied by 36 strikes a plunger 37 which turns the plug another so that the gas and liquid supplies tothe bottle are discontinued and the plug is set for the next filling.

The channels and ports in the plug are provided, except 49, in duplicate, so that 180 turns of the plug complete the whole filling operations. The cam track 28 then allows the ramand bottle to drop under the action of the spring 52 surrounding the ram when a crowning head 53 is slid over the bottle. Then the ram rises again and forces the top of the bottle into the crowning head and after the crown is applied the said ram and bottle descend and the filled and crowned bottle is scooped off of the stirrup onto the table 22 by contact with a fence 54. The bottles pile one behind the other between the fence and a guide rail 55 and reach the conveyor which takes them to the endof the table.

The upward thrust of the rams during filling and crowning is taken by a circular beam or track 56 carried by four posts on the bed plate of the machine, the thrust being transmitted through tracking rollers 57, one on each head.

The crowning heads are slid to and from the crowning position by ramps 58 and 59 engaging rollers 60 on them which, together with the said I;

Y plungers 37 and wipes against them and presses them back against springs ontheir shanks so that the star 35 passes them without being operated. The sleeves 63 and the ears 62 are slidable on guide rods 66 extending between the cover plate 10 and the heads 1. These rods prevent the stirrups' rotating about their axes.

In the event of a ram not descending completely it fouls the fence 54 and rocks it. The shaft on which the fence is'rigidly mounted turns a finger 67 which acts through a connecting rod 68, an arm 69 fixed on a vertical shaft '70, the said shaft, and an arm 71 on the shaft and with a projection 71 on it, to rock'a trip '72 and cause the end 73 of a bell crank weighted at '74 to drop and, by a connection from the end '75 of the bell crank, disengage the. clutch, not shown, by which the worm 11 is driven.

If one of the bottles is broken during filling, sayv due to the counterpressure, a rush and loss into atmosphere ofliquid and gas is prevented by check valves 76 and '77. The liquid and gas are fed to the pan through a gland 78. The inner tube '79 conveys the liquid into the pan and is controlled as to delivery'by a float valve 80-81, whilst gas enters the top of the, pan by way of a tube 82 surrounding 79. An adjustable snift valve 83 is provided in the pan.

The conveyor is driven by a suitable transmission from the shaft of wheel 11. This transmis-, sion includes a friction clutch adapted to slip if a piece of broken glass or the like wedges between the conveyor and the left hand end of the slot, in the table, in which the conveyor runs. 4 Y

What I claim is:

1. In a counter pressure bottle fillingmachine, a plurality of filling heads each with a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquid radially into a bottle introduced to the head, cooks for controlling the flow of counter pressure gas and liquid, hydraulic rams for introducing the bottles to the heads and for removing them from the heads, cylinders for the rams, a worm wheel supporting and circumscribing the cylinders, a connection between the wormwheel and heads, and means for rotating the worm wheel and hence the'connection and the heads.

'2. In a counter pressure bottle filling machine, a plurality of filling heads each with a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid tube defining with the gastube' a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquid into a bottle introduced to the heads, the discharge ends of the gas tube and liquidtube being relatively formed to compel a radial .discharge of the liquid, cocks on the heads and star wheels on the cooks adapted to operate the cooks in steps for controlling the counter pressure gas flow and the liquid flow with respect to the bottles introduced to the head, means in' v eluding hydraulic rams, and-a cam track for controlling said rams for introducing the bottles to the head and for removing them therefrom, and means for rotating the heads andbottles.

3. A counter pressure bottle filling machine comprising ,a counter pressure feed pan, filling heads rigidly connected to the pan, each head having a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquid radially into a bottle introduced to the head, and having a tracking roller, a track above the rollers,v

and cocks for controlling the flow of counter pressure gas and the flow of liquid between the pan and heads, hydraulic rams being aligned be-' neath the heads, cylinders for the rains, a worm wheel carrying and circumscribing the cylinders,

a sleeve rigidly connecting the worm wheel and having a counter pressure gas flow tube and a liquid passage adapted to discharge liquid radially into a bottle introduced to the head, and having a tracking roller, a track above the rollers, and-cocks for controlling the flow of counter pressure gas and the fiow of liquid between the pan and heads, hydraulic rams being aligned beneath the heads,'cylinders for the rams, a worm wheel in driving relation to the cylinders, a sleeve rigidly connecting the cylinders and worm wheel with the pan, a vertical standard disposed axially of the sleeve with top and bottom bearings on which the sleeve, worm wheel and cylinders rotate, and means for rotating the said worm wheel,

JOHN WALTER FLOWER.

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