US2307262A - Can cover replacer - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 5, 1943. N. GRAN 2,307,262

` CAN covl-:R REPLAGER FiledvAug. 15, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 5, 1943. A N. GRAN CAN COVER RE'PLACER Filed Aug. 15, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 5, 1943 canl Govan REPLACERy Norman Gran, Chicago, Ill., assignor to A. H. Arnold & Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 15, 1941, Serial No. 407,093

7 Claims. ,I (Cl. 29-84) The present invention relates in general to improvements in the art of cleansing containers and ci' reassembling the clean parts, and relates more specifically to various improvements in the construction and operation of mechanism for replacing the covers upon milk cans or the like after the individual parts have been washed and sterilized.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved receptacle cover applying device which@1 is simple in construction and efficient in operation.

It is customary in the dairy industry, to receive fresh milk from the producers in rather large batches ranging in volume from five to ten gal-i lons, each batch being confined in a relatively large milk can sealed with a standard circular cover. When these milk laden cans are received at the dairy, the milk is removed, and both the empty cans and their covers should be thoroughly? washed and sterilized before the covers are reapplied to the cans and the assembled containers are returned to the producers or otherwise reutilized. In dairies where large quantities of milk cans are thus treated, the cans and covers areff preferably emptied in rapid succession with automatic machinery, and the successive cans and covers are thereafter cleansed automatically, after which the covers should be quickly reapplied to the receptacles. While the prior machinery for effecting automatic washing, sterilizing and drying of the succession of milk cans and covers, is quite satisfactory, considerable difculty has heretofore been encountered in reapplying the covers to the containers, especially i when the successive receptacles were not all of the same capacity, shape or size. Most of the prior cover replacers involve relatively complicated power driven mechanism which besides being expensive to install and operate, is ratherunreliable in action, and these previous devices could not be readily applied to standard can and cover washers without excessive loss of time and considerable changing and expense.

It is therefore a more specific object of the present invention to provide an improved milk can cover replacer which obviates all of the objectionable features of prior devices of this kind, and which is extremely reliable in action.

Another specific object of my invention is' to provide an automatic receptacle closure replacer especially adapted to reapply standard covers to milk cans or the like, and which is conveniently applicable as an accessory to standard can and cover washers.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism for applying closure lids to containers advancing in succession along a definite path, and which is adapted to automatically compensate for variations in the size and shape of the successive receptacles.

Still another specic object of this invention is to provide a new and useful can cover replacer vvwhich is operable by the successive cans to properly time the cover application and to accurately seat the successive covers in their' receiving sockets. i

An additional specific object of the present invention is to provide a Very simple and durable receptacle cover applyingmechanism, which is dependable in action, and requires minimum attention when in normal use.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide a milk can cover replacer especially applicable as an accessory to standard automatic straight-line washers, and which can be manufactured, installed, and safely operated at moderate cost.

A further object of my invention is to provide mechanism for applying washed and sterilized covers to clean cans, in a sanitary manner and without danger of damaging the elements.

These and other specic objects and advantages ofthe invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of an embodiment of the invention, and of the mode of constructing and of applying and operating milk can cover replacers built in accordance with the improve ment, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate thek same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. l is a side elevation of an improved milk can cover applying mechanism, showing the same associated with the delivery end of a standard can washer;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the mechanism of Fig. l, looking toward the can actuated and cover release elements of the assemblage;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the mechanism, showing a cover rolling by gravity toward cover applying position;

Fig. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective View of the improved mechanism, showing a cover in position ready for deliverythereof to a can advancing therebeneath.; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a commercial machine, showing a cover being applied to an advancing can.

While the invention has been shown and described herein by way of illustration, as being applied to a standard straight-line milk can washer of the type wherein the cans are inverted while being cleansed, and are righted automatically at the delivery end of the washer; and has also been disclosed as being operable by contact With lower portions of the successive cans, it is not my desire or intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope or utility of the improvement.

Referring to the drawings, the standard straight-line automatic milk can and cover washer and sterilizer comprises in general an intermittently movable straight-line endless conveyor 8 mounted upon a main frame 9 and being adapted to transport milk cans Ill of various sizes in succession through an enclosing housing II and past a series of spray nozzles for delivering washing and sterilizing iiuids against the cans; an independent conveying and washing assemblage for simultaneously transporting the successive can covers I2 through the housing II; and mechanism I3 for inverting or righting the previously inverted cans IIJ and for delivering the same in succession upon a runway I4 carried by an extension I5 of the frame 9. The construction and operation of these automatic straightline washers, is well known, and forms no essential part of the present invention.

The improved can cover replacer constituting my invention, comprises generally a pair of upright shafts I6 journalled in upper and lower bearings I'l, I8 respectively mounted on the washer frame 9 at opposite sides of the runway Ill; lower longitudinally adjustable can actuated arms I9 rigidly secured to the pivot shafts I6 near the lower bearings I8, and each having its swinging end directed inwardly toward the corresponding end of the other arm I9 and provided with a can engaging roller 20; upper shaft actuated gate arms 2I also rigidly secured to the shafts i6, near the upper bearings I'I and each having its swinging end directed inwardly toward the corresponding end of the other arm 2| and provided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined gate bar 22; a torsion spring 23 embracing each pivot shaft I6 intermediate the bearings Il, I8, and each having one end firmly attached to the adjacent portion of the frame 9 while its opposite end is likewise, but adjustably attached to the adjoining shaft I6 by means of a collar 2d and clamping screw 25; a fixed inclined cover rollway or guide 26 carried by the frame 9 and having its upper end in open communication with the cover runway 2'I of the washer, while its lower open end is directed inwardly toward and above the can runway I4; a

tiltable at inclined cover slide or chute 28 dis,

posed beneath and laterally adjacent to the-guide 26 and being swingably suspended at its upper end from the frame 9 by means of a shaft or pivots 29, so that the lower end of `the chute 28 may swing toward and away from the lower run way Ill; a cover guiding hood 3i] carried by the lower swinging vend of the chute 28; and a counter-weight 3l carried by an arm 32 projecting upwardly and rearwardly from the upper end of the chute 28, and being cooperable with a fixed stop abutment 33 to limit the downward swinging motion of the chute.

Each of the can'actuated arms `I 9 is preferably adjustable in length with the aid of bolts 34 carried by the outer arm sections and coacting with slots 35 in the inner sections, so as to change the relationship between the rollers 20 and the gate arms 2I to compensate for variations in the speed of operation of the machine; and the arms I9 may be caused to coact with stop plates 3B in order to limit their inward swinging motion. The arms I9 may'also be secured to the pivot shafts I5 anywhere above the lower bearings I8 so as to cause the rollers 20 to engage the successive advancingcans I0at-any desired point,and the collars 24 and screws 25 may obviously be utilized to secure any desired tension in the springs 23. These springs 23 should be formed to constantly urge the lower arms I9 toward the stop plates 35, and to maintain these arms against the stops when no cans I0 are engaging the rollers 20. The counterweight 3| may also be made adjustable along the arm 32 in order to properly counter-balance the weight of the chute 28 and hood 39. The 'entire can cover replacing assemblage `1nay obviously be applied as an accessory to either new washing machines, or to machines already installed, by merely providing a supporting extension I5 therefor to the main frame 9, and final can discharge guides 31 may also be provided along the runway I4.

During normal operation of the washer and can cover replacing assemblages, after the cover replacer has been properly installed and adjusted, it will function to automatically place a cover I2 on each milk can Ill as the latter are discharged in succession from the washer housing I I. The inain conveyor 8 will normally transport the cans i9 in inverted condition and in succession through the housing II, and the can covers I2 will be simultaneously transported in the position shown in Fig, 3 along the washer guideway 2. The successive clean cans I0 upon leaving the housing I I, are righted and deposited in upright position upon the runway Irl, along which they may be transported either by succeeding cans I or by other conveying means. As the successive covers I2 emerge from the guideway 2'1 and are deposited in the rollway 26, they roll by gravity downwardly toward the inclined chute 28 and are eventually deposited atly thereon. The inertia of' the downwardly advancing successive covers I2 carries them downwardly along the chute 2B beneath the hood 3D where they are momentarily stopped by the upper gate armsr2I and inclined bars 22. The corresponding advancing can le thereafter engages the rollers 29 and spreads the lower arms I9 apart, and in so doing, the shafts I6 are rotated in the bearings Il, I8 and simultaneously spread the upper arms 2i and gate rods 22 apart. As this spreading action proceeds, the springs 23 will be subjected to increasing torsion, and the spreading movement will ultimately be sufficient to permit the cover l2 to pass between the bars or rods 22, and to -drop by gravity into the receiving socket of the can Ii) as illustrated in Fig. 5. Each of the advancing cans I0 thus automatically picks up a properly positioned cover I2, and

the rollers 22 continue to ride along the trailing curved rear wall of each can I and permit the springs 23 to become eiective to quickly restore the lower actuating arms I9 and the upper gate arms 2l to normal position, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the successive cans I9 are relatively low height as depicted in the drawings, and are insufficiently tall to contact the cover chute 28, this chute will not swing about its pivot shaft 29, but will remain in the position shown in Fig. l with the counterbalancing weight 3I in contact with the stop 33. However, if a higher can I0 is advanced along the runway IS and beneath thechute 23, the upper portion of the high can will contact the bottom plate 38 of the cover chute 28, and will swing this chute upwardly about its suspension pivot 29 sufliciently to permit the can I0 to advance forwardly beneath the chute 28. During such upward displacement of the Ilower delivery'end of the chute 2S by a tall can lil, the counter-balancing weight 3l will be lowered away from the stop 33, but after the high can has passed the chute 28 and has been supplied with a cover I2, the weight of the chute 28, hood 30, and plate 38, which exceeds that of the counter-weight 3l and arm 32, will again return the counter-balancing weight 3E and the chute 28 to the position illustrated in Fig, 1. The can actuated cover replacer thus functions automatically to apply covers l2 to cans lil of various height or size, within the limits of the space provided by the frame, and the stop 33 may also be made vertically adjustable so as to insure proper cooperation of the cover supply chute 28 with cans HI of different heights.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be apparent that my present invention provides an improved can cover applying assemblage which is extremely simple, compact and durable in construction, and which is moreover highly eflicient in operation. By virtue of the fact that the improved mechanism is operated directly by the advancing cans lil, and no special power driven connections are necessary, the cover replacer may be readily applied as an accessory to various types of old or new can washers, and is adapted to be actuated at minimum cost. The present improved can cover replacer is positive and entirely automatic in action, and also automatically adjusts itself for cooperation with cans of various sizes; and while the improved assemblage is shown herein as being associated with a can washer of a particular type, it may obviously be applied wherever it is desired to apply closures to advancing receptacles in succession. My iinproved milk can cover replacer applies the covers to the cans in a safe and sanitary manner without necessitating manual handling of the cover or can, and has proven highly satisfactory and successful in actual commercial use. It is intended that the word cover as used herein shall designate any kind of closure for an opening in a receptacle, and that the word can as speciiically used shall include any type of container or receptacle,

It should be understood that it is riot desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction, or to the precise mode of operation, herein shown and described for various modi cations within the scope of the appended claims,

may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In combination, guide means for conducting cans along a definite path, means for feeding covers to a denite zone above said path, a vertical pivot shaft disposed on each side of said path, a can actuated arm associated with each of said shafts and extending into said path adjacent t0 the lower body portion of the cans, and a gate arm associated with each of said shafts above said path and extending inwardly in front of said cover feeding means, said gate'arms being operable by the advancing cans through said shafts and said actuating arms to reelase the successive covers from said feeding means.

2. In combination, guides for conducting open topped milk cans along a definite rectilinear path, a cover supply chute swingable about a horizontal axis toward and away from said path, vertical pivot shafts disposed on opposite sides of said path, gate arms carried by upper portions of said shafts and extending inwardly in front of the delivery end of said chute, and actuating arms secured to the lower portions of said shafts and extending inwardly into the path of the lower body portions of the advancing cans.

3. In combination, guides for conducting open topped milk cans along a denite rectilinear path, a cover supply chute swngable about a horizontal axis toward and away from said path, vertical pivot shafts disposed on opposite sides of said path, gate arms carried by upper portions of said shafts and extending inwardly in front of the delivery end of said chute, actuating arms secured to the lower portions of said shafts and extending inwardly into the path of the lower body portions of the advancing cans, and spring means for constantly urging said arms inwardly.

4. In combination, guides for conducting open milk cans along a denite path, a cover supply chute swingable about a transverse fulcrum to ward and away from said path, pivot shafts clisposed on opposite sides of said path, gate arms carried by corresponding end portions of said shafts remote from the cans and extending inwardly in front of the delivery end of said chute, and actuating arms carried by the opposite end portions of said shafts and extending inwardly into the path of the body portions of the advancing cans.

5. In combination, guides fo-r conducting open milk cans along a definite path, a cover supply chute swingable about a transverse fulcrum toward and away from said path, pivot shafts disposed on opposite sides of said path, gate arms carried by corresponding end portions of said shafts remote from the cans and extending inwardly in front of the delivery end of said chute, actuating arms carried by the opposite end portions of said shafts and extending inwardly into the path of the body portions of the advancing cans, and spring means coacting with said shafts to constantly urge said arms inwardly.

6. In combination, guide means for a succession of advancing cans, a cover supply chute above said guide means, said chute includingv means movable by the advancing cans to cause said chute to properly cooperate with the open ends of cans of different height, a pair of gate arms pivotally suspended on opposite sides oi said guide means and cooperating with the cover delivery end of said chute, a pair of can actuated arms pivotally suspended on opposite sides of said guide means, and means connecting said can actuated arms to said gate arms for periodically swinging said gate arms to release the successive covers as successive cans actuate said can actuated arms.

7. In combination, guides for conducting open topped milk cans along a definite rectilinear path, a cover supply chute swingable about a horizontal axis toward and away from said path, vertical pivot shafts disposed o-n opposite sides of said path, gate arms carried by upper portions of said shafts and extending inwardly in front of the delivery end of said chute, and actuating arms secured to the lower portions of said shafts and extending inwardly into the path of the lower body portions of the advancing cans, said chute including means cooperable with the upper ends of the successive cans to swing the chute kabout said axis for proper coaction with cans of diiferent heights.

NORMAN GRAN.

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