US2325160A - Capping head - Google Patents

Description

July 27; 1943.

CAPPING HEAD Filed March 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 9 77,4' Z 27 27 zy 5 i@ r l 2@ l E 2@ l i @a 60 I 6025 25 I /60 55 l 35 ,//60a l 6 57 53 lll- I i z' a? 57 35 I I, l 761 61 l 6:." 5 55 .1' :Ei 65 a 50- 50 51 n g8 52a ,y l 54:? L I 52 32 n 1:56 a l i E *Vg- V54 L 3 53 0 O L55 4 I 4 .47. l i i -55 55 41 44 50 51 12 .ZZ 3153 a4 15 l! i l/ 3p je 15 7 5i f f' 51 6 1.4 6 10 11 INVENTOR Carl oaduin 10 oRNEY July 27, w43.. c. w. GOODWIN y CAPPING HEAD Filed March 17, 1941 2 Sheetsfshest 2 oRNEY Patented July 27, 1943 CAPPING- HEAD Carl W. Goodwin, Plalneld, N. J.. assignor to American Seal-Kap Wilmington,

Corporation of Delaware, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application March 17, 1941, Serial No. 383,752

3 Claims. (Ul. 226-86) The present invention relates to machines for fastening and sealing flexible skirted hood caps over the mouths of containers such as milk bottles.

Qne object of the'present invention is to provide a new and improved container capping machine of the general type referred to.

Another object is to provide a capping head having new and improved means for contracting the marginal skirt portion of a flexible hood cap over the mouth of a bottle.

Another object is to provide a capping head having means for contracting the skirt portion of a flexible hood cap around the head of a bottle and for applying a high contracting pressure to parts thereof.

Another object is to provide a capping head having means 'for applying contracting pressure uniformly around the skirt portion of a flexible hood cap irrespective of any slight 'irregularities in the position or shape of the bottle being capped.

Various other objects of the invention willbe apparent from the following particular description and from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which l Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a capping head embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the capping head taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l, and shown in initial position ready to receive a bottle for cap sealing operations.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the capping head similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing a'subsequent operating step in which the bottle has been moved into the field of operation of said head.

Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the capping head similar to that of Fig. 2, but on a larger scale, and shows said head during the final sealing operation;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on line 6 6' Fig. 7 is a horizontal section takenV on line 'l-'I of Fig. 5, but on a larger scale; and

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of a bottle capped and sealedby the capping head shown in Figs. 1-7. Y

The capping head of the present invention is designed to seal a hood cap II onto a milk bottle I0 or other similar container having a central bore 9, an internal closure receiving ledge 8, a

pouring lip 1 and an outer bead 6 around the bottle mouth. The hood cap l I may be shaped from a circular blank of flexible sheet material such as paper, having form sustaining rigidity to permit shaping. and may be preformed in a manner disclosed and claimed in a copending application of Clark and Vore, Serial No. 366,218, for Bottle cap and method of making the same. Said application discloses a preformed cap having a depressed, central, bore closing diaphragm I2, adapted to enter snugly into the mouth of the bottle Ill, and to seat on the internal ledge 8 thereof, an annular pouring lip housing I3 of channel shaped cross-section adapted to extend over the pouring lip 1, and an outwardly extending, uted skirt I4 adapted to be contracted around the bead 6.

'Ihehousing i3 is shown provided with inner and outer substantially parallel walls I5 anda top wall I6 bridging said parallel walls and having raised radial ribs I 1.

The skirt I4 is dished downwardly and is provided with pairs of crease or fold lines I8 diverging radially outwardly from the pouring lip housing I3. The crease lines I8 of each pair are scored for folding in opposite directions, so that when the skirt I4 is contracted downwardly and inwardly on the bottle, the surplus material of said skirt is folded along said crease lines into predetermined triangular pleats 20. A disc 22 may be flxedly seated on the diaphragm I2 to bear the necessary printing, to reinforce said y diaphragm, and to exert seating pressure against the internal wall of the bottle. The cap may be coated in whole or in part with -a suitable adhesive. such as a thermoplastic adhesive or a solvent softening adhesive, or may carry a thermoplastic binder capable of setting to form a rigid cap when cold.

The capping head embodying the present invention comprises a bell-shaped housing 25, integral with or otherwise secured to the lower end of 'a crosshead 26, which may be secured in a handle for manual operation or may be slidably mounted in the turret (not shown) of a standard capping machine and may be resiliently held by a spring 21 seated around a pin 29 to permit' the capping head to rise as required during the capping operations.

A forming ring 30 having a downwardly ilaringopening 3| lto receive the bottle neck` with attached hood cap is secured to a ring frame 32 by anyI suitable. means, such as screws 33, and forms therewith a housing for a plurality of clamping jaws 34, to be described. A disc plung er 35. integral with or otherwise xed to the ring frame 32, is' formed with a lower cylindrical section 35, adapted to extend snugly into the mouth of the bottle for seating the diaphragm I2 of the cap II on the ledge 8 of the bottle, and with an upper sleeve section 31 slidably embracing an arbor 38 which depends centrally from the housing 25 and is integral or otherwise rigid therewith. A radially outwardly extending flange 4I on the sleeve 31 forms an abutment for the lower end of a coil spring 28 encircling said sleeve and seated against the top wall of the housing 25. A pin 42 secured diametrically Ato the sleeve 31 extends through a vertically elongated guide slot 43 in the arbor 38 to limit the movement of the plunger 35.

Slidablyl seated on the forming ring 38 and disposed in the hollow of the ring frame 32 are the clamping jaws 34. These clamping jaws 34 are segmental in shape, and conjointly form a ring encircling the cap skirt I4. The inner peripheral sections of these jaws 34 may be provided with teeth 45 to compress and concentrate the sealing pressure on the corresponding por? tions of the overlapping layers of the cap pleats 20 during sealing.

The clamping jaws 34 are relatively and independently slidable into pressing engagement with out by the reciprocating movement of the ring frame 32 in the housing 25. For that purpose there are provided a plurality of bell cranks 48, each pivotally supported on a pin 50 between a corresponding pair of opposed brackets I which are 'integral or otherwise rigid with a ring 52 xedly seated in an annular recess 52a in the ring frame 32. One arm 53 of each crank 48 passes downwardly through openings in the rings 32 andl 52, and is bifurcated to loosely receive a pin54 extending 'between a pair of upstanding parallel brackets 55 integral or otherwise rigid with the corresponding clamping jaw 34. The other arm 58 of each crank 48 extends obliquely upwardly, and during certain phases of the sealing operation is engaged by a plunger 51, which is slidably mounted in the housing 25 and is urged into downward position by a spring 58 encircling a spindle 68 of said plunger and seated in a recess 58a in said housing. The outer edges 6I of the crank arms 5,6 are curved as shown to permit free sliding movement of said edges along their respective plungers 51 as the ring frame 32 is moved upwardly. The housing 25 is provided with an annular flange 63 adapted to engage the arms 56 for retracting the same.

In capping operation the preformed hood cap I I is applied tothe head of the bottle I0 as shown in Fig. 2, with its pouring lip housing I3 in alignment with the pouring lip 1 of the bottle and with the diaphragm section I2 in position to be seated on the internal ledge 8 of said bottle. If this cap carries a thermoplastic binder or adhesive, the cap is heated either before or after it is applied to the bottle head by suitable means (not shown) to render the adhesive tacky or to soften the binder preliminary to the sealing operation.

The bottle I0 with attached heated hood cap I I is moved axially upwardly through' the daring opening 3| of the forming ring 30 by any suitable means or the entire capping head is depressed over the bottle until the lower section 35 of the plunger 35 extends into the depressed portion of the cap and seals the same on the internal ledge 8 as shown in Fig. 3. During this upward moveyment of the bottle with respect to the capping head, the sealing jaws 34 are in their radially outward position. As the bottle is moved axially upwardly through the opening 3|, the cap skirt I4 is contracted radially inwardly by the forming ring 30 so that when the bottle reaches the position shown in Fig. 3, the skirt will have been contracted to extend about vertically downward and the surplus material of said skirt will have been folded along the predetermined fold lines I8 to form the triangular pleats 28.

As the bottle continues its upward movement, the ring frame 32 and plunger 35 are moved upwardly in the housing against the force of the spring 28, thereby causing the crank arms 56 to engage the plungers 51. The cranks 48 are thus rotated about their pivotal supports 50 by the force of the springs 58 and cause the jaws 34 to slide radially inwardly towards the cap skirt I4. 'Ihis relative upward movement of the plunger is continued until the sleeve 31 `engages'the wall of the housing 25, or until the jaws 34 have contracted the lower section of the cap skirt I4 against the outer surface of the bottle as shown in Fig. 5, and have exerted the necessary sealing pressure thereon to cause the overlapping layers of the pleats or folds 20 to be adhesively secured together. The teeth- -on the inner periphery of the sealing jaws 34 cause the pressure to be concentrated at the corresponding points of the,

` skirt and to crease the same as indicated by the lines 62 in Fig. 8. This concentration of pressure during sealing serves to more effectively seal the overlapping layers of said folds together.

' During this sealing operation the sealing pressure is limited to that exerted by the springs 58.

Any additional pressure is taken up directly by the plunger 35 resting on the internal ledge 8 of the bottle. The force exerted by the plunger 35 for sealing the cap in the bore of the bottle is determined by the spring 28 and is independ- 4ent of the contracting force exerted by the Ysprings 58. If the bottle continues to rise after the sleeve 31 has made contact with the housing 25, the entire head is lifted against the pressure of the spring 21, thereby preventing breakage ofthe bottles.

When the sealing operation shown in Fig. 5 has been completed, the bottle is lowered, or the head raised, thereby lowering the ring frame 32 in the housing 25 and releasing the pressure of the plungers 51 on the arms 58. The arms 55 then engage the flange `63 which retracts the cranks 48 and jaws 34 totheir original position. The capped bottle shown in Fig. 8 is -then axially withdrawn from the head and another bottle inbottle being capped will not aect the sealing operation of said jaws.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes 2,325,1eo in the forms and details of the machine, process U and product illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the` spirit of the invention.V

What is claimed is:

1. A capping head for aflixing onto a bottle a hood cap having a central diaphragm and a marginal skirt to be folded around the outer surface of the bottle neck, comprising a housing, a central plunger slidably carried in said housing and spring pressed downwardly, said plunger having a surface to engage the diaphragm of the cap and seat the same on said bottle, said plunger being movable upwardly into said housing in response to pressure exerted by the bottle, a frame rigidly secured to said plunger and movable therewith,

a pluralityA of clamping jaws circumferentially arranged to form an opening for receiving the marginal skirt, means mounting said jaws on said frame for movement toward the center of said opening for folding inwardly and applying pressure to said skirt, an individual bell crank lever operatively connected to each of said ja-ws and pivotally carried by said frame with an ear extending upwardly toward said housing, an individual spring-pressed plunger mounted in said housing to engage the upwardly extending ear of each bell-crank lever, said individual plungers being constructed and arranged to actuate said bell crank levers to shift said jaws inwardly in response to movement of said frame toward said housing produced by pressure exerted on said central plunger by the bottle, 'and stop lmeans associated with said central plunger and said y, housing respectively, said stop means cooperating to limit the relative upward movement of said central plunger and frame with respect to said housing'before said individual plungers have been fully retracted, whereby said individual plungers remain in resilient engagement with said bell crank levers to cause each of said jaws to exert a predetermined maximum pressure on said skirt regardless of variations in contour of said skirt and resilient supporting means for said housing to permit upward movement of said housing and plunger as a unit in response to further pressure exerted against said central plunger by said bottle.

2. In a capping head according to claim 1, a iiange carried by said housing in a position to engage the upwardly extending ears of said bell crank levers to cause the same to retract said jaws in response .to relative separating movement of said frame and said housing,` whereby lthe skirt and bottle are automatically released when the bottle is withdrawn from said capping head.

3. In a capping head according 'to claim 1, a skirt forming ring carried by said frame below said jaws, said ring having an opening smaller than the iiared diameter of said skirt and arranged to fold said flared skirt downwardly as the same is passed upwardly therethrough on the bottle neck.

CARL W. GOODWIN.

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