US2170044A - Label-removing machine - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 22, 1939.

R. J. WYNNE 2,170,044

LABEL-REMOVING MACHINE d Aug. 19, 195

Aug- 22, 1939 y R. Jj wYNNE 2,170,044

' LABEL-REMOVING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JJ o8@ I Filed Aug. 4

Aug.22,1939. RJ, WYNNE f 2,170,044

LABEL-REMOVING MACHINE Filed Aug. v19- 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNlTED STATES iiATENT OFFICE LABEL-REMOVING MACHINE Application August 19, 1936, Serial No. 96,756

13 Claims.

This invention relates to container cleanser machinery and more especially to automatic devices for removing old labels from bottles, cans and the like.

The general object of the invention is to provide a machine generally of the conveyor type in which the old labels may be efficiently removed from containers of various types, e. g., bottles, cans, jars and others of similar character. Such a machine may be 'an independent unit or may be closely associated with a container washing machine in which case it would be arranged to remove the labels before introducing the containers into the principal Washing machine.

The following described machine is adapted to remove the labels mechanically, either with or Without the aid of a moistening agency to first loosen the labels from the containers.

Other incidental and relatedobjects will appear and be brought out more fully and thoroughly in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing an` embodiment of my invention operatively associated with a container washing machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the spray means removed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken along the line 3-3 of- Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the upper central portion o'f the ldisclosure o-f Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly' to the drawings and especially to Fig. l, I show'the forward end of a container washing machine i 3 having a. tank I I in ywhich is located a conveyor I2 comprising chain rlinks I3 adapted to passover' a sprocket wheel I4 mounted on a shaft I5 suitably carried by side walls of the tank II, and a plurality of bottle pockets I6 are carried by the conveyor I2. The arm I'I of a bell crank is operated from a'motor, not shown, which motor also operates the conveyor I2, and astud shaft I8 is carried by the free end of armv I1.

The foregoing described. mechanism is essentially similar to that shown' and described in my patent, No. 1,981,684, and is shown and rdescribed herein to illustrate the operative connection of the label removing machine comprisingV Imy present invention which will nowbe fully described.

An extension link I9 has a tubular member 20, one end of which is pivotally secured to stud shaft I8 vand has a telescoping member 2| `the free end of which is pivotally secured to a stud 22 mounted on a rock arm 23, which in lturn is loosely mounted on a power shaft 24, which is carried by bearings 25 in the side walls 26 at the rear of a rectangular housing 21. Housing 21 has front sup- 5- porting legs 28 and a pair of gusset plates 29 by which the rear portion of the housing is secured to the front Wall of tank I I. Housing 21 has a front wall 38, a rear wall 3I and a bottom wall 32. The housing 2'I may conveniently be constructed of sheet steel or other equivalent material as may be desired. An idle shaft 33 is provided with bearings 34 by which it is mounted between side walls 25 at the front of housing 2l. A plurality (in the instant case, four) of sprockets 35, are secured to shaft 24 in spaced relation to each other, and each said sprocket has a complementary front sprocket 36 which may be loosely mounted on ythe shaft 33 although suitably alined with its corresponding sprocket 35 by appropriate spacing collars on shaft 33.

A chain conveyor 3l for the bottles, the labels of which are tobe removed, having links 38, is provided for each pair of sprockets 35 and 36, and advancing lingers 39 are suitably secured to designated links of chain 31, successive fingers 39 being spaced along the chain 3l the appropriate distance necessary to advance the containers of the size for which the machine has been designed. A ratchet wheel 40 is secured on shaft 24 and has a plurality of ratchet teeth 4I. A pawl 42 is arranged on stud 22 for engagement with ratchet teeth 4I, the foregoing described mechanism being such that the reciprocation of link I9 will cause the pawl 42 to -advance the ratchet wheel 48 an angular distance equal to four ratchet teeth, or a quarter turn, which movement will advance chain conveyor 3l the distance equalto four links thus bringing each advancing linger 39 to the position previously occupied by the immediate preceding advancing finger thus advancing a bottle or a container the distance equal to the length or height of such container, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Each conveyor chain 3l is provided with a supporting track bar 43 mounted between side rails of a cross supporting plate 44, which, in turn, is secured to the side walls 26. Plate 44 has a large central rectangular opening 45 for a purpose which will be more apparent hereinafter. 50

Pairs of bearing blocks 46 are integrally formed in the front and rear side members of cross plate 44, the forward bearing blocks 46 being adapted to support the rear ends of a plurality of forward guide rods 4l, the forward ends of which are connected to the front wall supporting plate 48. Guide rods 41, of which I show four in cooperative relation with each conveyor chain 31, are adapted to form a support for and guide the advancing movement of the containers, the labels of which are to be removed by the mechanism of my present invention. The said guide rods 41 are so arranged as to provide a channel or trough to appropriately guide the containers as aforesaid. A similar set of rear guide rods 49 are secured at their forward ends by a rear bearing block 46 and each has a downwardly inclined portion 50, the far end of which is secured to a bracket member 5I secured to the rear wall 3 I, the channel formed by 1 each set of rear guide rods 49 being alined with a swinging chute 52 pivoted on the front wall of tank II, which is described in detail in the aforementioned patent, No, 1,981,684.

A plurality of idle and support rollers 53 are pivotally mounted in pairs of bearing blocks 46, rollers 53 being preferably of hard rubber or a similar material adapted to have a slight amount of resiliency in order that the containers may not be broken or injured if of glass or other frangible material, A floating frame 54 is provided for mounting the bottle rotating rollers and scrapers, to be described more fully hereinafter and has a top front rail 55 and a top rear rail 56, rail 56 having an upper guide apron 56a for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. Between top rails 55 and 56 are a plurality of intermediate transverse tie rails 51 and a pair of outer tie rails 58. A pair of front side rails 59 are secured to top rails 55 and 56 and a similar pair of rear side rails 68 are secured to top rear rails. A flange member 6| is secured at each side of the floating frame 54 to the side rails 59 and 68 and a pair of Z-bars 62 are secured on each side Wall 26 and serve to position floating frame 54 substantially at the center of the housing 21, the Z-bars being adapted to engage said members 6|. A pair of angle iron members 63 are secured at the bottom of vertical side rails 59 and 6D and provide a support for a bracket 64 which supports a motor base 65, which, in turn, is provided with a plurality of threaded posts 66 on which a motor 81 is adjustably mounted, the motor having the usual power shaft 68 and a sprocket 69 mounted thereon. A continuous chain 10 driven by sprocket 89 of the motor 61 is carried over lower guide sprockets 1| on rear side rails 60 and over upper guide sprockets 12 at the top of side rails 60. A plurality of shafts 13 are mounted between top rails 55 and 56 and each said shaft carries a friction roller 14, preferably of rub@ ber or like material. A sprocket 15 is secured at the rear end of each shaft 13 and is operable by chain 16, the guide apron 56a serving to retain chain 1D against sprockets 15. A bracket 16 is integrally formed with or secured to each tie rail 58 and a roller 11 is pivotally mounted on bracket 16. A pair of sprocket wheels 18 are fixed on power shaft 24 adjacent the ends thereof and a pair of idle sprockets 19 are similarly positioned 82 and shoe members 83, the latter having in` clined surfaces 84, pairs of shoes 83 forming a V between pairs of shos 82, the inclined surfaces 84 the upper surfaces of the shoes 82 and 83 and being depressed when the roller 11 drops into the V depressions of the inclined surfaces 84. Chains 80 are each supported between the sprockets by a track bar member 88a supported at the ends thereof by the side rails of cross supporting plate 44. A plurality of spring held Scrapers 85 are mounted on intermediate top tie rails 51 and each scraper construction, preferably of spring steel, has a sharp knife edge 86 which may be presented against the surface of a bottle or container 81 having a label 38 or other foreign ma terial on the outer cylindrical surface thereof which it is desired to have removed by the operation of the herein described mechanism.

Below the conveyors 31 is located a removable porous pan or screen 89 which is slidably removable from its position on a pair of guide members 90, a hinged door 9| being located in front wall 38 adjacent pan 89.

As an optional feature I show a water supply line 92 leading to a discharge pipe 93 which leads into a plurality of spray nozzles 94 located over the region of the Scrapers 85, a quantity of discharged water from the washing tank Il being passed therethrough and controlled by valve 95 to facilitate the softening of the labels or other foreign material on the containers or to assist in carrying off the displaced labels to the pan 89. A drain pipe 96 is provided in the bottom of housing 21 and has a control valve 91 therefor.

The operation of my invention should be clear from the foregoing description. It will be understood that motor 81 operates continuously and rotates rollers 14 continuously, likewise, by chain 10. The conveyors 31 and elevating chains 88 will be advanced intermittently by the action of shaft 24 being actuated by ratchet 40 and pawl 42. The bottles or the containers are placed on the conveyors at the forward end of the machine, or more particularly, on the guide rods 41 and advanced by the conveyors and advancing fingers 39 to the position shown in Fig. 1, the containers resting on idle rollers 53. During this movement the iloating frame 54, carrying the upper rollers 14, is held in the upper position by the rollers 11 being on the parallel portions of shoes 82 or 83 so that sufficient space is provided for the containers 81 to be brought into position under Scrapers 85. When the elevator chains 80 have been advanced to the position shown in Fig. 3, at which position they come to rest under the action of the ratchet 40 and pawl 42, the floating frame 54 will be lowered by the action of the rollers 11 being dropped into the V-groove formed in shoes 83. The friction rollers 14 will thereupon contact the sides of the containers 81 and cause them to rotate, and, at the same time, the knife edges 86 of the scrapers 85 will be brought against the surface of the containers 81 producing a cutting or scraping action resulting in the removal of any foreign matter, such as labels 88, that may adhere to the cylindrical exterior of the containers. This material will be caused to drop between the rollers and be caught in screen pan 89 from which it may be removed at intervals as it collects therein. This action may be facilitated by the use of discharge water spray from nozzles 94 as desired. However, this process may not be found necessary under all circumstances. After the scraping operation has been completed and the next cycle of movement of the conveyors is effected by the action of the reciprocating link I9 the floating frame will be elevated and the containers ad- Vancely to rear guide `rods 49 by the conveyors desired.

While I have shown my preferred form of construction I do no-t wish to be limited to the details herein shown and described, but wish to avail myself of all the variations coming within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In container cleansing machines, means to remo-ve foreign matter from the outside of the containers, said means including a straight edged scraper element adapted to engage and remove said foreign matter, and rotary cam-operated means adapted to eect the engagement of said scraper element with said foreign matter said rotary means including a plurality of rollers adapted to rotate the containers.

2. In container cleansing machines, means to remove foreign matter from the outside of the containers, said means including a straight edged scraper element adapted to engage and remove said foreign matter, and rotary means ladapted to effect the engagement of said scraper element with said foreign matter said rotary means including a plurality of rollers adapted to rotate the containers, and a conveyor adapted to convey the containers into and out of position for engagement with said scraper element said conveyor having means coacting therewith adapted to disengage said scraper from said containers to effect the substitution of unscraped containers for said scraped containers.

3. In container cleansing machines having an intermittently moving conveyor for containers, means to remove foreign matter from the outside of said containers, said means including a straight edged scraper, a vertically reciprocating frame adapted to support said scraper, a plurality of container drive rollers and drivingy means therefore mounted on said frame, a cam roller on said frame, and cam means adapted to reciprocate s-aid'frame, whereby to effect engagement of said drive rollers and scraper with said con,- tainers when said conveyor is stationary.

fi. In container cleansing machines having an intermittently moving conveyor for containers, means to remove foreign matter from the outside of said containers, said means including a straight vedged scraper, a vertically reciprocating frame adapted to support said scraper, a plurality of container drive rollers and driving means therefor mounted on said frame, a cam roller on said rama'and cam means adapted to reciprocate said frame, whereby to eiect engagement of said drive rollers and scraper with said containers when said conveyor is stationary, and to effect disengagement thereof when said conveyor is moving.

5. In container cleansing machines having an intermittently moving conveyor for containers, means to remove foreign matter from the outside of said containers, said means including a knife edged scraper, a vertically reciprocating frame adapted to support said scraper, a plurality of container drive rollers and driving means therefore mounted on said frame, a cam roller on said frame, and cam means adapted to reciprocate said frame, whereby to'eifect engagement of said drive rollers and scraper with said containers when said conveyor is stationary, :and to veffect dise'ngage'ment thereof when said conveyor is moving.

6. combination with a container cleansing `machine having means to wash `-the containers and having container receiving means intermittently placed into receiving position; means to remove foreign matter fro-m the outside of the body portions of the containers, said means including an edged scraper element adapted to `engage said foreign matter substantially tangentialiy to the containers, means to effect positive interengagement of said scraper element with said foreign matter, means to feed the containers into position for engagement by the scraper element in timed relation to the movement of the container receiving vmeans of the cleansing machine into? receiving positie-n, means to cause the intermittent disengagement of the scraper ,elements from the containers, and means. leading to the container receiving means of the cleansing machine to intermittently discharge the containers into the same after removal of the foreign matter.

'7. The combination with a label removing machine having a conveyor for receiving containers and guide means associated therewith; a container cleansing machine having container receiving means and associated with the label removing machine, means to intermittently place the container receiving means. of the cleansing machine in position to receive the containers: from the guide means, a floating frame associated with the conveyor having a scraper adapted to be moved into engagement with thefcontainersl when the conveyor is stationary, means associated with the frame for revolving the containers at such times to remove labels or other foreign matter therefrom prior to intermittent discharge into the container receiving means of the cleansing machine and means for receiving said labels and foreign matter so removed.

8. In a label removing machine, intermittently movable conveyors adapted to receive the containers, a. floating frame, scrapers carried by the frame adapted to engage and remove labels from the containers, means carried by the frame adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the containers for revolving the same, meansy independent of the frame for actuating the same, and means for discharging the containers.

9. In a label removing machine, intermittently movable conveyors adapted to receive the containers, a floating frame, scrapers carried by the frame adapted to engage and remove labels from the containers, means carried by the frame adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the containers for revolving the same, cam-operated means operable simultaneously with the conveyor for causing movement ofthe frame, the scrapers and container revolving means toward and away from the containers, means carried by the frame for operating said revolving means, discharge means for the conveyors and intermittently operated receiving means for receiving the containers from the discharge means.

l0. In a label removing machine, intermittently movable conveyors adapted to receive the containers, a floating frame, scrapers carried by the frame adapted to engage and remove labels from the containers, means carried by the frame adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the containers for revolving the same, cam-operated means operable simultaneously with the conveyors for causing movement of the frame,

the scrapers and container revolving means toward and away from the containers, means carried by the frame for operating said revolving means, fluid supply means above the scrapers, and receiving and draining means for the scraped labels beneath said parts.

11. The combination with container receiving means; intermittent driving means therefor to advance the containers thereon, means for revolving said containers at times, means for scraping the containers when the revolving means is active, and means for guiding the containers to intermittently discharge the same as advanced.

12. The combination with container receiving f means; intermittent driving means `therefor to advance the containers thereon, means for revolving said containers at times, means for scraping the containers when the revolving means is active, driving means for the revolving means,

2 0 and means on the container receiving means for holding the containers against axial movement while being scraped and moving the containers into and out of scraping position upon actuation of the advancing means and constituting a part of the latter.

13. The combination With a container cleansing machine having container receiving elements and means for intermittently advancing the same; a label removing means including conveyors for receiving the containers having means to engage tlle containers for advancing the same and operative connection With the intermittent advancing means rst mentioned, means for revolving the containers at intervals, scrapers moved to engage and remove the labels from the containers when revolved, and cam-operated means actuated with the conveyors for rendering the revolving means and scrapers operative and inoperative.

ROBERT J. WYNNE.

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