US2026856A

US2026856A - Timing and safety device for bottle conveyers

Info

Publication number: US2026856A
Application number: US279408A
Authority: US
Inventors: Youngdahl Francis Edgar
Original assignee: LAKEWEST CORP
Current assignee: LAKEWEST Corp
Priority date: 1928-05-21
Filing date: 1928-05-21
Publication date: 1936-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 1953-01-07

Description

Jan. 7, 1936. F. E. YOUNGDAHL TIMING` AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CONVEYERS s sheets-sheet 1 Original Filed May 21, 1923 wNN mw BNN@ @5N HN INV ATQRNEY Jan. 7, 1936. F. E. YouNGDAHL 2,025,856

TIMING AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR BOTTLE;` CONVEYERS l Original Filed May 21, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig? ATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1936. Y F. E. YOUNGDAHL TIMINQ AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CONVEYERS original Filed May 21 192s 3 sheets-sheet 5 Illli `lNvi-:NTR I v fe/ n ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 7, 1936 UNITED sTATEs TIMING AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR BOTTLE CONVEYERS Francis Edgar Youngdahl, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Lakewest Corporation, a corporation of New York Application May 21, 1928, Serial No. 279,408 Renewed February 24, 1933 vzo claims., (c1. zzo-sali This invention relates to timing andsafety devices for bottle conveyers, capping machines, and similar devices, and is particularly applicable to machines of the type disclosed in a co-pendlng application of Rupert E. Rundell, Serial Number 100,398, filed April 7, 1926.

Heretofore, in machines of this type, the containers or bottles to be capped or filled have been placed on a charging conveyer, from which they pass directly into the machine. If a container was accidentally overturned, it was likely to go into the machine endwise, causing jamming breakage of the container. were fed or placed onto the charging conveyer faster than the machine could take care of them, the* containers jammed at the entrance of the machine, causing breakage or jamming of the machine, or failure of any container to enter 2G the machine. Another cause of trouble in the machines was that in case a container were missing from the capping station,K as happened'when the machine ran idle for a little or when bottles were not fed up to the capacity of the machine,

25 caps would be fed to the capping machine when there was no container to receive them, thereby wasting unused caps and clogging the machine.-

The resulting delays are especially serious, because these machines are used in the bottling of 10 perishable liquids such as milk, lwhich must be prepared for the marketin a short period oftime and shipped on schedule.

Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide means applicable toma- 35 chines of this type which will obviate the above noted diiiiculties, thus rendering such machines less liable to delays and shut-downs, and making it possible to operatethe machine continuously with greater output and less wastage than before.

40 With these and other objects in view, the invenl tion consists in certain constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended. 45 In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, taken on the line I-I in Fig. 3. f Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the device showing the relation of the skip cap mech- 50 anis-m with respect to the ends of the charging and supply conveyers.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation,l partly in section, of

the portion of' the device shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation taken on line 4-4 of mg. 3. t

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional rear elevations taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, showing successive steps in the operation of the skip cap controlling mechanism.

Fig. '7Y is a detail plan view of the turnstile and 5 its operating mechanism; and y Fig. 8 is a view in elevation along the line 8-8 of Fig. 1. l 4

In carrying the invention into effect, there is provided in combination with a bottling machine l0 for simultaneously operating on a plurality of upright bottles, a charging means for presenting and possible injury to the lmachine, as well as Also, if containers bottles to the machine, together with means for delivering bottles to said charging Ameans in f upright position4 and in predetermined spaced re-f l5 lation, as' required for presentation to the machine. The means for delivering the bottles to the charging means preferably includes gate means operative to intermittently pass upright bottles, while stopping overturned bottles, and mechanism actuating said gate means in timed relation to the operation of the machine. In the best constructions, said delivery means includes feeding means at right angles to the charging means and mechanism transferring the bottles fronrthe feeding means to the charging means. `In the best constructions also, there is provided in a machine of this type for capping containers `and having a capping station, charging means for delivering containers to said station, cap feeding mechanism for delivering caps to the station correspornling to each one of said containers, and means controlling said mechanism to deliver a cap to the station only when said charging means delivers the corresponding container to the station. The means above referred to may be widely varied in construction within the scope of vthe claims, for theparticular machine selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention therefore is not to be restricted to the precise details of thestructure shown and described.`

Referring to the drawings, a base 3, which rests on legs 4, carries a bracket 5 to which 45 are fastened supporting rails 6 and 'I of the bottle feeding conveyer 8, this bracket being provided with bearings for a shaft 9 of a driving sprocket III of the feeding conveyer. A bearing stand II on the base 3 supports a vertical shaft 50 I2 of the transfer wheel I3, while brackets I4 mounted on thebase 3 support a shaft I5 of the charging conveyer sprocket I6. On the lower end of the shaft I2 are mounted a spur gear.

|1, and a'bevelgear Il, the latter being driven 55 by a bevel gear I9 on a shaft 26 of the capping machine. The feeding conveyer 8 is driven by a bevel gear 2| on the shaft 9, meshing with a bevel gear 22 on the shaft 23 in a bearing 24 attached to the side of the bracket 5. The shaft 23 is provided lwith a spur gear 25 which is in mesh with the gear I1 on the shaft I2. An endless chain 26, forming part of the charging conveyer, is driven at the same speed as the endless chain 8 of the feeding conveyer.

A bracket 21 fastened to the side of the bracket 5, carries a bell crank lever 28 pivoted on a stud 29 and a cam lever 38 pivoted on stud 3|. On the stud 3| there is also swingably mounted an adjustable transfer lever 32 held in place by a screw 33 xed to the cam lever 38. The bell crank lever 28 and a cam lever 36 are connected by a bar 34, which at one end has a slot 34a in which is received a pin 35 on a cross arm 36 of the lever 28, the other end of the bar 34 being pivoted to the cam lever 38 by a pin 31.

The bottles placed on the feeding conveyer 8 are guided on their way/to the transfer table by a fixed side wall 38 and a removable side wall 39. The former is carried by an upright 40 attached tothe supporting rails 6 and 1, and by the angle piece 4| fastened to the bracket 21. The removable side wall 39 has circumferentially recessed posts ,42, which ii't into and are held by corresponding grooves provided in wall, 43 attached to bars 44 and to angle piece 45. For feeding larger or smaller bottles, the walls 39 can thus be easily` removedvand replaced byothers of suitable size, or the same may be adjusted by substituting posts of different length for the post Before leaving the feeding conveyer 8, the bottles must pass by the regulating turnstile 46-41, placed .with its arms projecting into the path of the bottles near the end of the conveyer 8. This turnstile consists of an upper star 46 having four projecting arms and a lower star 41 also having four arms registering with those of the upper star, which are both pinned on a shaft 48 journalled in bracket 49 attached to the stationary side .wall 38. The star 41 has in each of its arms a downwardly projecting pin or lug 58 which, when in engagement with the upwardly projecting end 5| of the bell crank lever 28, holds the turnstile stationary which would otherwise be kept in rotation by the passage of the advancing bottles on the continuously moving conveyer. Thus, instead of being turned by the bottles, the turnstile arrests the bottles when locked by the lever 28.

When roller 52 of cam lever 30, which is in engagement with the star shaped cam-53 adjustably mounted on the underside of transfer wheel I3, is pulled into one of the depressions of the cam 53 by the spring 54 attached to stud 29 and pin 31, the connecting bar 34 slides on pin 35 towards lever 28 and thus allows free movement of the bar 34 until the end of its slot 34a engages the pin 35, thereby turning the bell crank lever 28 and releasing the turnstile 41 so that the arrested bottles can now advance past the same. A spring 55, attached to the pin 35 and a post 56, pulls an ann 51 of lever 28 against a stop screw I58 so that, when on further rotation of cam 53 the roller 52 leaving the depression and commencing to climb up the side of the next elevation, the lever 28 immediately returns into locking engagement with the pins on star 41, having in the meantime permitted turnstile 46-41 Ato move by one point only, and

' time.

The transfer lever 32 is operated by the cam lever 30 through the screw 33 fixed to the lever 30 and extending through slot 59 in the transfer 5 lever, so that when one bottle is at the end of the conveyer and the-next following bottle is held by the starwheel 46, the transfer lever 32 swings into the bottle runway, thereby transferring the bottle from the end of the feeding conveyer to a stationary table 60 Supported by bearing 'stand II. The rotating transfer wheel I3, having bottle engaging projecting portions, then moves the bottle on table 60 to the delivery conveyer 26, the bottle being guided by theY circular 15 portion of guidewall 39. The transfer lever 32 is so timed to insert the bottle well into the bight of wheel I3 before the same is pushed along the rail 39, to prevent jamming of a bottle between the projecting portions of the wheel I3 and the rail 39.

Near the place where the end of the removable 'rail 39 meets the stationary guide wall 43, the latter has the gate 6| fastened to it by means of spring-hinges 62, so that surplus bottles accumulating on the conveyer when the turnstile for any reason should be locked for any unusual length of time, will automatically be pushed out from the conveyer upon a` platform, or other suitable receiving means provided for this pur- 30 pose, when a predetermined pressure on the bottle is reached.

While passing through the circular runway of the transfer table 66, a side of which is formed by an arc shaped portion of the rail 39, each bottle in turn engages a curved plate 63, which is adjustably mounted on a lever 64 pivoted on a shaft 65 in bearing 66 held by the bracket I4, thereby actuating by means of a lever 61 and a rod 68 an automatic device for delivering a bottle cap, corresponding to the bottle engaging thc plate, into the cap feeding mechanism for arrival at the capping Station coincidentally with the bottle which actuated plate 63. An empty compartment in the transfer wheel has no effect 45Y on plate 63, so that only the station of the capper to which a bottle is actually being conveyed, has a cap fed to it.

'I'he charging conveyer 26 has upper supporting rails`69 attached to brackets 10 and 1I, the 50 former centered on shaft I5 and fastened to table 60, and the latter supported by a slide 12 and lower supporting rails 13, fastened to side bars 14 on the brackets 18 andr1I. The bottles on their way to the capper are guided by side walls 55 15 and 16 aiiixed to the side bars 14, and the transfer table is protected by a guard 11 attached to

bars

40 and 14.

The automatic cap delivery device hereinbefore referred to, by means of which a cap is released for delivery into the capper by each bottle advancing into capping position, thus skipping a cap when there is -no bottle, is shown in the accompanying Figures 1, 5 and 6.

In Fig. 1, a bottle B is shown on the transfer 65 table 60, being taken by the transfer wheel I3 from the feeding conveyer 8 to the charging conveyer 26, on which it is carried to the position B' on one of the plungers 18 of the capping machine. 'I'his capping machine is similr to that disclosed in the copending application already referred to. For brevity, only so much of the capping machine as is necessary to an understanding of the present ldevice is described, reference being made to said co-pending application for further disclosure.

v meshing with a bevel gear 88 on a shaft 8| of the bottling machine, runs over a sprocket 82 on a shaft 83 supportedl in a block 84 on the slide 12, by which the end of the conveyer can be adjusted for different heights of bottles to be capped. While the bottle is 4traveling from position B to position B', a cap, released by means presently to be described, through actuation of plate 63 by engagement with a bottle passing overtransfer table 68, is carried from the magazine or stacker 85 through a number of steps on the cold cap transfer 86 to the rotating heater 81 from which,

upon completion of one revolution during which it is heated into a pliable state, it is taken by the hot cap transfer 88 to the crimping head 89 of the capping unit then in position over the plunger 18 holding the bottle B.

The bottle caps C, Figs. 1, 5 and 6, are stacked between posts 98 of a cylindrical magazine 85, which is mounted on an inclined table 9| supported by a bracket 92. The lowermost cap in the magazine 85 rests in a canted position, in which it cannot be removed from the magazine, on a pin 93' attached to an ,arm 94 pivoted on a stud 95 in a bracket 96 and held up by a bar 91 pivoted to balance lever 98 loosely mounted on stud 99 of bracket |88. To withdraw'the pin 93 and thereby permit the cap to come down at on an ejector plate |8I, in which position the reciprocating movement of the latter will take it from the magazine and start it on its way to the capping mechanism, it is-'necessary for the balance lever 98 to be 'tripped by the upward motion of the disc I82-through the ascent of arm |83 caused by cam |84. The disc |82 is rotatably mounted on plunger shaft |85 slidable in bearing |86 attached to frame |81, and its angular position is controlled by the rod 68 loosely pinned to disc |82 near its periphery andl actuated by plate 63 of the timing device in such a manner that the passage of a bottle sets 'the disc into a position in which a vertical lug I I8 thereon trips lever 98 on the next upward stroke of cam lever |83, the balance lever 98, once being tripped, remaining in this position until the missing of a bottle fails to actuate plate 63 vthereby leaving disc |82 in its normal angular position in which another vertical lug on the dise on ascending, will throw lever 98 back with its upper end in highest position, thus raising pin 93 and lifting the caps in the magazine out of the range of action of the cap ejector.

The balance lever 98 has on either side of its ,pivot 99 the prongs |88 and |89 by which it is thrown into one or the other of its rest positions, according to the angular position of the disc |82. The two vertical lugs I I8 and I I on said disc are so spaced that when plate 63 is in outward oractuated position as a bottle engages the latter when passing the transfer table 68 and the disc |82 is turned by the rod 68 in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 5, the lug ||8 registers with the end of prong |88, whilethe prong |89 and lug are out of alignment. In the inward position of plate 63, when there is no bottle in engagement with it, the lug registers with the end of prong |89, Fig. 4, and prong |88 and lug ||8 are out of alignment. A coil spring I I2 is stretched'between pivot stud 99 of lever 98 and a post I I3 of the bar 91, the end of the lever 98 being bent so that the pivot joint of the bar 91 and the lever 98 lies nearly in a line with the ends of the spring |I2. Thus, when the lug I |8 is in registration with the prong |88 and the arm |83 raises the disc |82, the

tripping of the lever l98, started bythe lifting of prong |88, is accelerated by the action of the .spring ||2, as soon as the end of lever 98 has passed the neutral point of the spring, and the spring then holds the lever in its tripped position, shown in Fig. 6. And, in case of a missing bottle, when the cam |84, by raising arm |83, has turned the lever 98 into fully upright position, the spring ||2 will hold it in that position. An adjustable set screw ||4 bearing against the frame |81, and a pin ||5 in fulcrum bracket |88 attached to frame |81, limit the movement of the lever 98 in either direction, while the screw ||1 in the end of lever arm |83 serves to adjust the up and down stroke of the disc |82. A pin I I8 inserted into the plunger shaft |85 of the disc |82 bears against the fulcrum of balance lever. 98 and confines a coil spring I9 within a bore in shaft |85, thereby forcing and holding disc |82 in its downward position and keeping roller |28 of arm |83 in contact with cam |84. In its rest position, when no bottles are passing through the machine, the

plate 63 is held in the bottle-path 0f table 60 by av spring ||6 attached to rod 68.

From plate |8I, the cap C, released by the bottle B, is on the next forward step of the machine, deposited onto plate |21 and thence onto the table 9| the caps entering, on their forward movement, under the stripper levers 86 which, on the backstroke of the slide |24, are pressed down upon themby springs |35 fastened to a support |36, thus holding them until the offset on the next lower plate has moved past them, whereupon they drop onto that plate on the next stop. Having arrived upon table 9|, the cap C is pushed into slot `|31 of heater 81 by the forward` edge of plunger plate |21, a cap previously inserted into the heater being at the same time pushed out of slot |38 of the latter by the ejector plate |39 attached to the under side of slide |24 and guided by the rollers |48 attached to bracket 92.

When the cap C has arrived in the latter position, upon having made one slot division less than a complete revolution in the heater 81, it is ejected by 'plate |39'and deposited upon plateA 88 of the hot cap transfer, which finally takes it into the crimper head 89 at the same time that the bottle B arrives in the position B under that head and on top of the plunger 18.

It will, therefore, be seen that an effective device is provided for preventing 'delivery' o f a cap to a capping station of the capping machine whenever for any reason a bottle which normally should arrive at said station is missing.

What is claimed is: l. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers,

of mechanism for feeding and heating heat plastic caps for the containers, and means actuated by the containers in said container feeding means for controlling the feed of the caps in said mechanism, sai cap feed controlling means including a yiel ingly supported plate adapted to engage each container successively, and said container feeding means including a plurality of conveyers angularly disposed with respect to each other, a transfer device for moving the containers from one conveyer to the other and into engagement with said plate.

2. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism for feeding and heating heat plastic caps for the containers, and means actuated by the containers in said container feeding means for controlling the feed of the caps in said mechanism, said mechanism including a magazine having a supply of caps andl a device for feeding caps out of said magazine, and said control means operating to move the supply of caps into or out of the range of action of said device by raising and lowering them to and from a canted position.

3. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism for feeding and heating heat plastic caps for the containers, and means actuated by the containers in said container feeding means for controlling the feed of the caps in said mechanism, said mechanism including a continuously moving cap feeding slide provided with a transverse shoulder, cam means for operating said slide, a magazine arranged to feed caps into the path of said shoulder, and means adapted to engage the lowermost cap in said magazine and lift it into a canted position out of the path of said shoulder.

4. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism for feeding and heating heat plastic caps for the containers, and means actuated by the containers in said container feeding means for controlling the feed of the caps in said mechanism, said mechanism including a magazine having a supply of caps and a cap feeding slide for feeding the caps out of said magazine, and said means for controlling the feed of the caps including a cam, a lever actuated by said cam, a pin connected to said lever and adapted to engage the caps in said magazine to move them into or out of the range'of action of said slide..

5. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism f or feeding and. heating heat plastic caps for the containers, and means actuated by the containers in said container feeding means for controlling the feed of the caps in said mechanism, said mechanism including a device for heating the caps, a reciprocating cap feeding slide for delivering the caps to said device, means for lifting the lowermost cap in said magazine into a canted positionout of engagement with said slide, and means for removing the caps from said device.

6. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism for feeding caps, and means actuated by the feeding mdvement'of. the containers in said feeding means for controlling said mechanism, said means for controlling the Jap feeding mechanism including a plate arranged to engage each container successively in said container feeding means and to be moved thereby, a rod having one of its ends connected to said plate, a cam, a disk actuated by said cam and connected to the other end of said rod to be moved in and out of operative position, linkage actuated by said disk, and a pin connected to said linkage and 5 adapted to engage the caps in said mechanism.

7. In a machine for capping containers, the combination with means for feeding containers, of mechanism for feeding caps for said containers, and. means for controlling the feed of the 10 caps in said mechanism, said mechanism including a reciprocating cap feeding slide provided with an ejector plate forming a transverse shoulder thereon, a magazine arranged to feed caps to said plate, and strippers for moving the caps 15 from said plate onto said slide into the path of said shoulder and from said slide into the path of the forwardend of said slide.

8. The combination with means for feeding containers, of means for heating plastic caps 20 for the containers, normally inoperative means for feeding plastic caps into said heating means, means for ejecting the heated caps from said heating means, and means controlling only said cap feeding means and actuated by engagement 25 with a container in said container feeding means to cause said cap feeding means to deliver a corresponding cap to said heating means, said controlling means being unconnected to said heating means.

9. The combination with means for feeding containers, of means for heating plastic caps for the containers, normally inoperative means for feeding plastic caps into said heating means, means for ejecting the heated caps from said heating means, and means controlling only said cap feeding means and actuated by engagement with a container in said container feeding means to cause said cap feeding means to deliver a corresponding cap to `said heating means, said con- 40 trolling means being unconnected to said heating means, and said controlling means including a member adapted to be engaged by a container, and said container feeding means including a device adapted to move a container into engagement with said member. Y

10. The combination, with means for feeding containers, of means for heating plastic caps for the containers, normally inoperative means for feeding plastic caps into said heating means, 50 and means controlling only said cap feeding means and actuatedby engagement with a container in said container feeding means to cause said cap feeding means to deliver a corresponding cap to said heating means, said controlling means being 55 unconnected to said heating means, said cap feeding means including a magazine holding a supply of caps, and means for engaging the lowermost cap in said magazine to lift it into a canted position.

11. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination with means for feeding bottles, of mechanism for feeding caps to said bottles, means for operating said cap feeding mechanism, a cam operated device for controlling the feeding of caps 65 to said cap feeding mechanism, said device including a movable disc operated by the bottles in said bottle feeding means, and means to move the caps out of the range of said cap feeding mechanism.

12. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination with means for feeding bottles, of means for feeding caps to said-bottles, means for operating said cap feeding means, cam operated mechlanism for controlling the feeding of caps to said cap feeding means, said mechanism including an intermittently actuated disc operated by the bottles in said bottle feeding means, and means to move the caps out of the range of said cap feeding mechanism.

13. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination with means for feeding bottles, of cap engaging mechanism for feeding caps to said bottles, means for operating said cap feeding mechanism, a cam, means for controlling the feeding of caps to said cap feeding mechanism, said means including a lever and amovable disc actuated by said cam and rendered effective by the bottles in said bottle feeding means, and means to move the caps out of the range of said cap feeding mechanism.

14. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination of means for feeding bottles, reciprocating mechanism for feeding caps to said bottles, means for operating said cap feeding mechanism,

-a rotary cam, a device actuated by said cam for controlling the feeding of caps to said cap feeding mechanism, said device including a movable disc connected to a lever operated by the bottles in said bottle feeding means.

15. In-a machine for capping bottles, the combination of means for feeding bottles, mechanism for feeding caps to said bottles, means for operating said cap feeding mechanism, camv operated means to control the feeding of caps to said cap feeding mechanism, said control means including an oscillatable member and a pin engageable with said caps to render said cap feeding means ineffective.

16. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination vof means for feeding bottles,. mechanism for feeding caps to said bottles, a cam for operating said cap feeding mechanism, cam operated means to control the feeding of caps to said cap feeding mechanism, said control means including an oscillatable member and means engageable with said caps to render said cap feeding means ineffective and said control means being actuated by a bottle in saidbottle feeding means.

binatlon of a magazine for caps, means for feeding bottles, means for removing caps from said magazine and for feeding caps to said bottles, means for rendering said cap feeding means ineffective including a pivoted member engageable with said caps to move the caps out of the range of said cap removing means and a disc actuated by a bottle in said bottle feeding means.

18. In a machine for capping bottles, the com bination of a magazine for caps, means for feeding bottles, means for withdrawing caps from said magazine and for feeding caps, cam means for actuating said cap withdrawing means, a pivoted member for moving said caps out of the range of said cap withdrawing means, to render said cap withdrawing means ineffective, means for rendering said cap feeding means effective 'including an oscillating disc actuated by a bottle in said bottle feeding means.

19. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination of a magazine for caps, means for feeding bottles, means for removing caps from said magazine and for feeding caps to said bottles, means for actuating said capl removing and feeding means, means for rendering said removing and feeding means effective including a lever, a disc having a plurality of lugs actuated by said lever, and a pin engageable with said caps to move the same out of the range of said cap removing means, controlled by said lugs, said lever being actuated by a bottle in said bottle feeding means.

20. In a machine for capping bottles, the combination of a magazine for caps. means for feeding bottles, means for removing caps from said magazine and for feeding caps to said bottles, means for controlling said cap feeding means including mechanism actuated by a bottle in said bottle feeding means, said mechanism including a bottle actuated lever, a movable disc actuated by said lever, a cap engaging member to move said caps out of the range of said cap removing means controlled by said disc and resilient means to urge said member into or out of engagement with said caps.

FRANCIS EDGAR YOUNGDAHL.