US2191513A - Bottle washer - Google Patents

Description

w. P. BIGELOW BQTTLE WASHER Filed March 13, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR T Vlnl B @6201?) BY QM XLLSLL 7 ATTORNEY Feb. 27, 1940. w. P. BIGELOW BOTTLE WASHER Filed March l5, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q 3 "N 5 0 F. 3 3 5 3, u 0 4 1 7 6 1 5 2 3 I 5 6 n v H 8 4 2 o n 5 4 J 1 H M n J 3 Feb. 27, 1940. w. P. BIGELOW 2,191,513

' BOTTLE WASHER F'iled March 15, 19:57 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Patented Feb. 27, 1940.

OFFICE BOTTLE WASHER|- I William 1:. eigatwfisackan', can. Application March 13,1937, sen i ive. 130,714

' 2 Claims (011414? This inventionrelates to bottle washing v chines and particularly to one for washing gal j lon'andhalf-gallon bottles; or jugs as they are more commonly known, such as those in which wine, vine'gar and other products are retailed;

The machine is equally adaptable however with but slight change, fortuse inconnection with ordinary shaped bottles of various kinds. j Themajor object'o f my invention 'is topmvide 'a machine for? the purpose by means of which the bottles or jugs may be washed, sterilized and rinsed, and the labels, if any, thereon soaked ofijin a rapidandvery efficient manner,

, and without anyllmanual work being necessary other than to feed the bottles 'intothe machine and remove said-bottles therefrom when washed, ,My improved washer is also very simple and relatively inexpensive and there 'is nothing to' get out of order or give trouble.. Also the-ma chine, though relatively small and compact, is

capable of handling a, large" number of bottles in a given time.

' These objects I accomplish by means of such structure andrelative arrangement of 'parts'a's will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several viewsz washingchamberorenclosure removed. a

taining and positioning 1 Figure 3is a sectionalelevation on the lin'e 33 of Fig. '2.

Figure l is a fragmentary radial section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. a

Figure 5 is alongitudinal section of the re--:

unit and the bottle sup porting spider. r I Referring now more particularly'to the char actors of reference on thedrawings, the apparatus comprises a circular casing'having a floor I and'anupstanding circular wall 2 of'considerably greater depth than that of the bottlesto'be washed. The casing is supported a suitable distance from. the floor on legs 3. 1

An inner endless wall [concentric with the wall 2 and spaced therefrom a distance considerably greater-than the diameter of a bottle, is

supported with its bottom'in spaced relationtto the floor by a spideri. This spider is secured on an axialshaftfi which isnon-turnably mount ed in a support Lsecuredin fixed conne'r'ition with the floors A circular flange F substantially the same diameter as the innerwall 4 projects Figure'l is a front elevationfofthe machine. I Figure 2 .is atop plan'view with'the lids of'the' upwardly from the floor with, a watertight seal, terminating short offthe bottom of thewall 4 for the purpose which will be seen. The top of the walls? and d are on the same level and are provided with inwardly projecting bands 8 form- 1 ledges for the support of removable sectional j lids. 9; 1

I 'fAn endless "circular enclosure is thus formed within the casing, and in this enclosure, the I v'va'shing and sterilizing, label soaking and final risingfjoperations are performedin the proper sequence as'will now be described.

Turnable on thej'sh'aft 6 between the spider 5 and the support lf'is'another spider 'comprising a plurality of evenlyspaced radial arms Ill which project through theband-like. space between the wallYtand flange Filand into the -washing enclosure. At their outer ends the arms support horizontal discs H-J' each having a central openmg IZ' slightly larger than the'diameter ofthe .1 j engaging .andcentralizingfingers I5 are v mounted on *the' discs; and upstand from aboutthe central openings in evenly spaced relation,

having an outward'fiare to their upper" ends. Thefiare'orj slope of the'fingers is vsuch that in Qthi's'particularmachine, gallon; or half-gallon jugs (which are,of'diiferent'diameters) may be supportedw'ith equal efficiency. In both cases,

the mouths of the jugs enterth'e disc openings sothaLtsaid' openings, in conjunction with the fingers, maintain the jugs in the desired vertical.

,A't .thexfrontlof the casing, the' wall' 2 is provided'with arectangular opening iii of suflicient sizeitfoenable a jug to be easilyplaced on orremoved? from" the above described supporting units. One disc at a time is removably engaged and held in a"'position convehie'rittothe opening l6- by an'arcuate saddle l"! having curved deflection lips l'la; the saddle being mounted orr'ahorizontal stem [8 disposed radially of the shaft fi and slidable in a sleeve I9 secured on the'wall Z'below thecpening. Asprin'gill' acts to yieldably: urge thefsa'ddle against the adjacent peripheralportion of a disc H. Sincethe spider upon-whichfall the discs are mounted is a rigid 7 unit, the holding of one disc'also maintains all about thefcircular enclosure, and sinceall said "discs areevenlyspaced, they all in turn occupy identical stations in' the casing,

Supported from the floor. under the jug sup- "xports and extending. about the "enclosure for a -,portiori of its circumferential extent from adthe othersat predetermined stationary, positions jacent one end of the opening 16 is a pipe 2|; This is closed at its ends but has need;1e jets 22 on the top axially alined with the disc openings 1 12 when the discs are in saidstationary position.

tank, discharging into a removable screen tray 27 supported on the tank. The solution is maintained in a heated condition in the tank' by a suitable circulating heater 28 mounted as a unit with and in close proximity to the tank. 1

Also connected to the pipe 2| and aisposed'ofi opposite'sides of and spaced from a jug when the latter is in a stationary position on a support some distance away from the opening 'lfi are vertical pipes 29. These have side jet openings face ing each other to spray the opposite 'sides'of the jug and thus effectively washing off any labels on the jug. I

Beyond the pipe 2i there are one or possibly two idle positions of each jug, so that the soluv tion can drain from the jugs before'they are rinsed. The rinsing of each jug in turn is er-q fected, also mainly when the jugs are stationary,

by means of an overhead spray rose 30' and a needle jet 3! alined withfand under the c'orre sponding supporting disc H (see Fig. 4). These are connected to an ordinarycold-water pressure pipe 32 having a hand valve 33 therein. A drain the correspond--' pipe 35 leads to the sewer from ing portion of the floor.

Pairs of flexible vertically disposed rubber curtains 35,which are deflected byengagemen't with a jugto let the latter pass, extend toward'each' other from the walls 2 and lat theopposite ends of the jug rinsing station to confine the splashing water. Another pairof similar curtains'is mounted adjacent the feed-in end of the washing enclosure, just beyond 'the'adj'acent end of opening it, to'prevent possible outward splashing of the'sterilizing solution. I

" In operation, with the pump and heater rum ning and with the solution spraying inwardly into the enclosure from the various jets 22fas well as from the spray pipes 29, the operator stands adjacent the opening it and places the jugs in turn on the supports, rotating the supporting spider by hand; Each time the spider is thus ro tated, it is only moved the distance between the adjacent jug supports (the saddle ll of course making it easy to determine such movement) and,

if any rinsed jugs are in the machine they are removed' as they pass from behind the adjacent curtains.

As each jug is thus advanced into the washing enclosure'i't, is subjected on the outside to the sprayfrom' the jets 22 during its movement between stationary positions, at which. time thejets discharge directly into the jugs thoroughly wash-. ing and sterilizing the same. By the time each.

jug reaches the vertical spray pipes 29, its outside is thoroughly wet and any label thereonjsaturated and loosened, so that the forceful spray from said ing removed. As stated, the spider is thus inter mittently rotated by hand,the length of the in termissions determiningthe thoroughness of the Washing and other operations, such intermissions being utilized by the operator in removing washed jugs and placing others on the supports for washing. Two or three jugs per minute however is the average speed of washing.

The sterilizing solution is used over and over as many times as may be feasible, the screened 1Q,

tray catching any paper, etc. which may be washed off of the jugs, so as to prevent-possible clogging of the pump. When it is desiredfto remove any washed off labels which, have not floated to the drain pipe, it is onlynecessary to remove the lid sections and reach down into the casing from above. v t i Y From the foregoing description it will be read- 1 j ily seen that I have produced such a. device as 5 substantially "fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth indetail the present and preferred constructionof the device, still in practice such deviations'fronisuch detail maybe resortedto as do not formfa departure I from the spirit of the invention, as deiined by thef appendedv claims,

Having thus described my "invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is: H e e l. In a bottle washingmachine including an.

enclosure forming a washing chamber, said.en{ I closure'having a bottle passageopeningthere- 1 through, a plurality of spacedbottle supporting.

u'n'its disposed in a row in the washing chamber, meansin the chamber to washb'ottlessupported on said units, means "mountingsaid units for,

movement alongthe chamber, and means to consecutively andreleasably locate the bottle supporting units in position accessible from said bottle passage opening; said last named means come prising a disc included with each bottle support. ing unit, a portion of the periphery of said discs projecting clear of said mountingvmeans, anda' spring p'ressed saddle mounted in connection with the enclosure in the path :of said disc portions and arranged to frictionally and relea'sably 1 en gage the same in consecutive order.

2.'In a bottle washing machineincluding-an enclosu'reforming a washing chamber, saidenclosure having a bottle passage opening therethrough, a plurality of spaced bottle supporting means in the chamber to washbottles supported movement along the chamber, and means to consecutively and releasably locate the bottles upport ing units in position accessible from said bottle units disposed in a' row in the washing chamber,-

passage"opening; said last named means com-f prising a disc included withe'ach bottle sup-port-.

. ing unit, a portion ofthe periphery-of'said discs projecting clear of said mounting means, a Sadr tile-disposed in thepath of saiddisc'portions, the.

saddle having an arcuate face corresponding'tol the peripheral curvature of-said disc portions, I curved deflection lips extending from the endsofthe saddle to a'point out of the path of movement of said disc portions, a Stern on the saddle] and projecting therefrom at right angles to the axes of'th'e discs a sleeve mounted on the enclopipes 29 thenwashes the labels ofi. The J'u sfl u andelidablysupporting. the Stem and WILL AM P. B'IGELOW. 1 51f .i

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