US2315255A

US2315255A - Can filling machine

Info

Publication number: US2315255A
Application number: US433060A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alfred O Giles; Jr Eugene S Sheffield; Francis T Maruoka; Bernard J Butler
Original assignee: Maui Pineapple Co Ltd Hawaii
Current assignee: Maui Pineapple Co Ltd Hawaii
Priority date: 1942-03-02
Filing date: 1942-03-02
Publication date: 1943-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 1960-03-30

Description

A. O. GILES ET AL CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed March 2, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March'so, 1943.

March 30, 1943. A. @LES ETAL 2,315,255

CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed MarchA 2, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2v.

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March 30 1943 A. O. GILES ET Al.

CIN FILLING MACHINE Filed March 2, 1942 4 Shee's-sheet 's March 30, 1943. A. o. GILES ET AL CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed March v2, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mer. 3G, 1943 FFECE GAN FILLING MACHINE Alfred 0. Giles, Eugene S. Sheffield, Jr., and Francis T'. Maruoka, Kahului, and Bernard J. Butler, Paia, Territory of Hawaii, assignors to Maui Pineapple Company, Ltd., Pala, Territory of Hawaii, a corporation of the Territory of Hawaii Application March 2, 1942, Serial No. 433,060

2 Claims. (Cl. 226-597) The invention relates to improvements in can lling machines and more particularly to improvements in mechanism for operatingl the can lling valves in machines of the type shown in the patent to Robert Luthi, No. 2,124,581, July 26, 1938. f-

The principal object of the invention isY to provide a valve operating mechanism which will insure smooth and accurate valve movement and will not be subjected to excessive wear.

The features of the invention, which reside in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims,

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View of the type of can lling machine to which my invention is particularly applicable. Y

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical 'sectional View -taken'on line 2 2, Figure .1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3 3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan View 'of one of the filling heads and valve units of the machine.

- Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View takenV i through one of the filling heads and valve units and adjacent portions of the machine, the View being taken on the line corresponding to line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the valve operating fingers and locking block.

Figure '7 is an enlarged detail plan view of the valve Voperating mechanism, the parts being shown in the positions they respectivelyoccupir at the beginning of one ofl the cycles'of opera tions of the valve.

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 7' showing the-parts of the valve operating mechanism' in the positions they respectivelyv occupy'upon Vthe completion of the rstvpart of the cycle of opera- Vwherein the invention is shown as applied to the can filling machine shown in Patent No. 2,124,581, granted July 26, 1938, I illustrates the rotating turret of the machine Whose upper portion is formed to provide a liquid supply tank 2 55 and Whose lower portion is formed with a tubular member 3 which encircles and is revolubly mounted on a supporting column 4 bolted or otherwise secured to a casting 5 mounted on a suitable base 6. Liquid is supplied tothe tank from a supply pipe 50 through a housing or head 5| adjustably mountedon a pipe or standard 52. Flow of the liquid from the housing 5I to the tank 2 may be controlled by a iloat 53.

Arranged about the periphery of the liquid supply tank 2 are a plurality of can filling heads l. Directly beneath each can filling head is a can supporting device B whichis mounted for vertical movement Within a skirt or the like 9 formed integrally with the column t of the turret,

Open top cans I() Which may or may not contain fruit but which are to be filled with syrup or other liquid are moved toward the turret by any suitable means such asA endless conveyor Vchains II. The cans are transferredfrom the vconveyor chains H to the cansupporting devvices by a star wheel I2 and they are removed from the can supporting devices by a star wheel IZa which may feed them to a vacuum seaming machine54.

' Y Each can supporting'device comprises a platform I3 on which the can is positioned by the star wheel I2. The platform is mounted on the top of a plunger I4 which is vertically movable within a housing I5 carried by the skirt 9. The lower end of the plunger'is provided With a pin l5 on which is mounted a main roller I'I and an auxiliary roller I8. The main roller Il rides upon a circular cam track I9 which inclines upwardly in 'the direction of rotation of the turret from a point Vjust beyondthe star wheel I2 so that immediately after a can is transferred on to the platform of Y the can supporting device the device is moved up` Wardly to move the can into cooperation with the associated can lling head l. The inner edge of a portion of the cam ring I9 extends upwardly `an-d inwardly to forni an overhanging arcuate cam track section 2G to cooperate with the auxil- Vlary roller I8 so as to insure lowering of the platform I 3 when desired. f

Each filling head unit comprise.; a body pci'- tionll which is suitably secured onthe outside of tank 2 of the turret. Each body portion 2l carries a rubber ring 22 adapted to be engaged by the upper edge of the can carried by the associated can supporting device so that Vthe can will be tightlyrsealed.

If a high vacuum is desired in the liquid filling of acan, members or jaws maybeA provided for encircling the can so as to prevent its collapse or distortion. For this purpose, a fixed jaw 23 may be carried by each can supporting device and a movable jaw 24 may be pivotally mounted on the outer end of the bodyv portion 2i of the lling head. The movable jaw carries a roller 25 which is adapted to coact with a suitable cam track 26 for moving the jaw into and maintaining it in operative position and for retracting it into inoperative position at the desired time.

Each can filling head includes a valve unit cornprising a bracket 2'! suitably secured to a liquid supply tank 2 and a rotary valve 28 whose bottom surface is smooth so as to closely t and coact with the smooth upper surface of body portion 2l of the illing head. This valve controls cornmunication with the interior oi the can which is held by the filling unit and in the particular type of can lling machine illustrated in the drawings the valve is designed to assume four different operative positions wherein (l) the can is subjected to a vacuum, (2) the can is cut off from the vacuumizing apparatus and a measured quantity of air is admitted to the can, (3) syrup or other liquid is admitted to the can, and (e) atmospheric pressure is admitted into the can.

The present invention is alone concerned with the mechanism for rotating the valve from one operative position to the next and as such mechanism is in no way concerned with the particular function or operation performed by the valve in any operative position it assumes, the various ports with which the valve body and cooperating body portion of the lling head must be provided to accomplish the specific functions oi the valve of the machine shown in the drawings are not illustrated and need not be described. The improved valve operating mechanism includes a rotatable device which may advantageously consist of a vertical tubular member 29 which is journaled in a bracket 2l. The valve may be removably connected to the lower end of this tubular member by forming its upper end with a rib or tongue 38 which extends into a slot formed in the lower end of the tubular member. When the tongue and slot are positioned along a radial line of tank 2, the valve may be easily disconnected from or connected to the tubular member.

Keyed to the upper end of the tubular member 29 is a sleeve 3l having a plurality of peripherally spaced

arms

32, 33, 34 and 35, respectively, the number of arms corresponding with the number of different operative positions the valve is adapted to assume. In addition to being peripherally spaced approximately 90 apart, the arms are also vertically spaced on the sleeve 3| so as to respectively cooperate with stops or the like 56, 3l, 38 and 39 which are arranged about the turret at different elevations so that each is disposed in the path of movement of the particular arm on the sleeve 3| with which it is intended to cooperate.

Also mounted on the sleeve 3i below the valve actuating arm is a member il which may advantageously be substantially in the form of a square block. In addition to performing the novel function hereinafter pointed out, member 49 is adapted to cooperate with a ring lil which encircles the turret. for locking the valve against movement as it is advanced by the turret from adjacent one valve actuating stop to the next one. This ring which is immovably secured by a plurality of clamps #l2 to a stationary shell or the like [i3 surrounding the liquid supply tank 2 is provided with a notched portion 44 adjacent each of the valve actuating stops for receiving a portion of the block-like member 40 and thus permit of rotation of the valve by the stops.

Each of the cooperating arms and stops for actuating the valve are designed so that the valve will be rotated through only a part of its arcuate path of travel from one operative position to the next instead of through its entire arc of travel because it has been found that, when the latter is attempted, the initial point of contact between each arm and its stop must necessarily be so far in advance of a line passing through the respective centers of rotation of the turret and valve that the valve movement is suddenly accelerated. This sudden acceleration has been found to cause an overflow of the valve unit which results in the leading corner of block 43, designated A in Figure '7, being jammed against the wall of the adjacent notched portion of the ring thus causing excessive wear of the parts and not infrequently the stoppage of the machine. This results in a rounding of the block corner and gouging and wearing away of the ring and it requires so much clearance between the ring Lil and the sides of the block member 4D that accurate valve setting and alignment of the ports is not possible.

By having each finger and its cooperating stop coact to rotate the valve through only a part of its arc of travel from one operative position to the next, the initial point of contact between each arm and its stop is only slightly in advance of the radial line connecting the centers of rotation of the turret and valve and consequently there will be no sudden acceleration of the valve. In the particular form of the invention illustrated in the drawings, each arm and its cooperating nger coacts during movement of the valve by the turret to rotate the valve approximately 45. The relative positions of the stop and valve unit after the valve has been rotated by the cooperation of arm 32 and stop 35 is shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, while the relative position of the parts when iinger 32 iirst contacts stop 36 is shown in Figure '7.

To cause the valve to rotate the remainder of its arc of travel to its next operative position after being partially rotated into the position shown in Figure 8, the corner A of the block which projects into the adjacent notch 44 of the ring is adapted to cooperate with the portion of the ring bounding the notch. Thus as the turret continues to rotate, corner A of the locking block is brought into engagement with the forward face of the notch, as shown in Figure 9, and the block and the valve will be smoothly and evenly rotated into the position shown in Figure 10 in which the valve is firmly held against further rotation by cooperation of the contiguous faces of block 4U and ring 4|.

By breaking down each cycle of operation of the valve into two parts or movements instead of accomplishing it in a single movement, the parts of the machine are subjected to considerably less wear, and it is possible to obtain exceedingly more accurate valve setting and consequent alignment of valve ports.

Various details of construction of the machine shown in the drawings have not been described, as they are not essential to a complete understanding of the present improvement and those skilled in the art will appreciate that the improvement may be applied to can lling machines differing widely in construction from the one chosen for purposes of illustrating the invention. For a complete understanding of such details of the machine Which have not been described, reference may be had to Patent No. 2,124,581, dated July 26, 1938.

What We claim is:

1. The improvement in can filling machines of the type having a rotating turret provided with a plurality of filling units for holding the cans to be filled and in which a rotatable valve capable of assuming different operative positions is associated with each unit for controlling communication with the interior of the cans, said improvement including a rotatable device mounted on each of said units for actuating the valve associated therewith, said device being provided with a plurality of laterally projecting arms and with a member vertically spaced from said arms, a plurality of stops arranged about said turret respectively cooperable With said arms as the turret moves for rotating said valve through a part of its arc of travel from one operative position to the next one, and means adjacent each of said stops for cooperating with said member as the turret continues to move for rotating the valve the remainder of its arc of travel to its next operative position.

2. The improvement in can lling machines of the type having a rotating turret provided with a plurality of lling units for holding the cans to be lled and in Which a rotatable valve capable of assuming diierent operative positions is associated with each unit for controlling communication with the interior of the cans, said improvement including a rotatable device mounted on each of said units for actuating the valve associated therewith, said device being provided with a plurality of laterally projecting arms and with a block-like member, a plurality of stops ar-v ranged about said turret respectively cooperable with said arms as the turret moves for rotating said valve through a part of its arc of travel from one operative position to the next one, and a ring encircling said turret having a notched portion adjacent each of said stops, said block-like member being movable into one of said notched portions When the valveis partially rotated by the adjacent stop and being cooperable With said notched portion as the turret continues to move for rotating the valve the remainder of its arc of travel to its next operative position, said ring being engageable with said block member for preventing rotation ofthe valve during movement of the block member from one notched portion to the next notched portion.

ALFRED O. GILES. EUGENE S. SHEFFIELD, JR. FRANCIS T. MARUOKA. BERNARD J. BUTLER.