US2325557A - Apparatus for applying flanged closures - Google Patents

Description

July 27, 1943. c. B. TERRY APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLANGED CLOSURES Filed April 28, 1941 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CL IFFORD B. FERRY.

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- July 27, 1943. c, B, TERRY APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLANGED CLQSURES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 ill @R w m m M/ 5 D RM 0 F m L "C July 27, 1943. c, B, TERRY APPARATUS FOR APPLYiNG FLANGED CLOSURES Filed April 28, 1941 6 Shets-Sheet s To VACUUM PUMP INVENTOR. CLIFFORD B. TERRK BY 7%; cm, W

J ATTORNEYS July 27, 1943. c. B. TERRY APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLANGED CLOSURES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 28, 1941 Q INVENTOR. C L IFFO/PD E. TERRY.

14 ATTORNEYS Q. B. TERRY APPARATUS FOR AEPLYING FLANGED GLQSURES 1941 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 28 INVENTOR.

0 f3. YERR'K CL/F =5. A TORNEYS Patented July 27, 1943 2,325,557 FOR APPLYI APPARATUS CLOSURES FLANGED Clifford B. TerrfiFhishing, N, Y.,ass ign orto Lily- Tulip Cup Corporation porationof Delaware New York, N Y., a cor;-

Application April 28, 1941, Serial No. 396,702

' 3 Claims. (01. 226-30) This invention relates to 'machines for applying caps, such as closure or cover elements, to receptacles. lhe invention is more especially in tended for applying flanged paper caps to interfitting receptacles; and the inventionhas been successfully incorporated in machines for filling and packaging .edibles such as ice-cream in paper containers.

Machines are well known in the art for filling containers, such as paper receptacles, wherein the containers are fed past a filling station, filled and thereafter capped; the caps or closure memers being successively fed to the capping station from the magazine in which the caps are stacked. Devices have been provided for feeding cardboard disc caps or similarflangeless caps in conjunction with such machines and the like; one such device being disclosed in Henry Blann application, Serial No. 326,003, filed March 26, 1940. However, it has been found that these previously known devices are entirely unsuited for feeding flanged caps. For example with flanged caps in stack formation it is practically impossible to prevent the flange of a superi n posed cap from interfering with the transverse feed of a lower cap upon which it rests. More over, where the flanged caps are made of relatively thin material and are subject to Warpage prior to application on the supporting lip of a receptacle, such warp'age increases the difiicult-y of feeding and applying such caps by a machine; especiallywhere the caps are of the snap-on type. Such flanged snap-on'caps,*and interfittinreceptacles are exemplified in James D. Reifsnyder Patent No. 2,233,489, dated March 4, 1941. i

An object of this invention is to provide 'a feeding mechanism for positively and accurately feed; .ing individual caps successively from a magazine or holder in which a plurality of caps are stored; and more especially for such a device which'iS suited for feeding flanged paper caps ofthe char-' acter described.

Another object of the invention is to provide a capping mechanism suitable for individually successively feeding flanged paper caps from a magazine containing a plurality of said caps into a cappinghead and for holding said caps in flat position within said are warped. i The invention consists in the novel features of head, even when saidcaps construction, arrangement, and combination of parts. embodied, by way of'example, in the apparatus hereinafter described as illustrating a present preferred form of the invention, and the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, the present preferred embodiment of the invention. i

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which the 'samereference characters indicate the same parts in th various views? Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the invention in the form of a machine for packaging ice-cream inpaper containers; certain parts relating to the ice-cream filling'rnechanism being omitted as forming no part of this invention and as well known to those skilled in theart.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing further details of certain parts illustrated in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is a-detailed sectional view of the lower part ofthe capping head illustratedin Fig. 1 and showing a cap in position within said head.

Fig, 4 is an end'view of the device illustrated inFig. 1, as viewed from'the right-hand portion of said f gure, and showing certain of the parts in section.

Fig. 5 is a partial diagrammatic View in elevation showing the suction system.

Fig. 6 is a plan view partly in section, taken approximately along the plane 66 of Fig. 4, and illustrating the cap-feeding mechanism in position to start feeding a cap transversely to- Ward the capping head.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the feeding mechanism "in the position where the cap has just been fed into the capping head.

Fig.8 is a plan view of a detail of the transverse feeding mechanisinj I r a Fig. 9 if a vertical cross section view taken at 9-9 of Fig. 6 and showing the corresponding position of the mechanism after the cap has been fed downwardly into position to be fed transversely. l

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 and taken at ll'l0 of Fig. 7, showing the corresponding position of the mechanism for feeding the cap downwardly into position before the commencement of such downward feed.

Figs. 11 and 11a show further details in the cycle ofoperation of certain parts illustrated in Figs. 6, 7, 9 and 10 for inhibiting the downward feed of the caps at such time'as a cap remains in the capping head.

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are respectively plan, side- General structure Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the main frame of the machine comprises a pedestal or vertical frame member I to which is secured a table portion 2 on which the containers to be filled, such as 3, are supported. A suitable device for supplying measured quantities of icecream (not shown) is positioned with a downwardly extending outlet in axial alignment with the filling station designated A and suitable stops, such as 4, are provided for insuring alignment of the receptacle 3 at station A and similar stops 4 are provided for preventing the preceding receptacle from moving into capping position until the proper time; said stops being movable downwardly to permit the forward movement of the receptacle on the table 3 toward the capping head position atstation B in timed relation to the capping operation. After the receptacle has been capped at station B, it is discharged at station to a suitable shelf or conveying means (not shown). A plurality of caps are arranged in stack formation at station D from where they are individually successively fed downwardly and thence transversely to the capping head at station B, in a manner to be more particularly pointed out following.

Power is delivered to the machine from a suitable source by a belt 5 engaging a pulley 6 secured to the outer end of a drive shaft 1 suitably journalled in the frame I, and this shaft is geared to a transverse shaft 8 (Fig. 4) by means of a pair of worm wheels 9. The shaft 8 is suitably journalled in the frame I and at its forward end (Fig; 4) -is. in driving engagement through a pair of bevelled gears ill with one end of a shaft I! (Fig. 2) whose other end, through a pair of bevelledgears I2, drives a shaft 13 to the end of which (Fig. 1) is secured a pulley l4 around which passes conveyor belts I5, which are preferably in the form of resilient spring belts; and these spring belts extend slightly above the top of the table 2 (Fig. 4) and serve to move the containers 3 in the manner previously described. The containers are guided in their movement along the table 2 by means of rails Iii-IT; and when the containers are stopped by the pins 4 or 4' the conveyor members [5 slide beneath the containers.

Positioned as an insert in the table 2 (Figs. 4 and 1) and disposed atstation B, is a vertically movable table segmentql8 mounted on a vertically reciprocable plunger H! to which motion is imparted from the drive shaft 1; so that the table portion is is moved upwardly toward a capping.

head 28 which is supported forlimited vertical movement in a journalled arm 2] rigidly attached to the machine frame. The table portion I8 is provided with slots l5 to receive the belts 15 as the portion i8 moves'upwardly. Suitable stop pins I 8' pass through the table portion l8 and are movable upwardly in timed relation to hold thejreceptacle in register with the head said stops being movable downwardly to permit the discharge of the capped container. The capping head and movable table portion 18 are in axial alignment at station B and the relative vertical on the outer end of a slide bar 24 suitably journalled for reciprocation in the frame l and whose inner end is provided with a pin 25 which is in driving engagement in a cooperating bifurcation provided in the rear end of an arm 25 pivotally journalled about a fulcrum bolt 21 supported on the frame bracket 28 rigidly secured to the frame I. It will therefore be seen that as the shaft 8 is rotated this rotary motion is transformed to a reciprocating motion imparted to the forward end of the arm 28 and this reciprocating motion effects two separate but related operations. (1) to withdraw respec tive caps from the magazine at station D and (2) to feed said caps from station D into the capping head 23. 'The withdrawing feed will firstbe described.

Withdrawal of caps from stack Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 4; an arm 29 is pivotally supported at its rear end by a stud 30 carried on an extension 3| rigidly secured to the frame bracket 28. The arm 29 is urged upwardly by means of a compression spring 32 (Figs. 12, 13 and 14) interposed between the lower side of the arm and the lower extremity of a C-bracket 33 carried by the support 3|; the spring being centered by studs 34-35 respectively secured to the arm and bracket, and the upper limit of movement of the arm 29 being adjustably determined by means of the stop 36 which is also carried by the bracket 33. A cam spacing block 31 is rigidly secured to the underside of the arm 29 and carries spaced inwardly therefrom a cam 38, the upper surface of which is in the horizontal arcuate path of travel of a cooperating cam roller 39 which is pivotally mounted on the forward end of the arm 26, previously described. Accordingly, when the arm 26 moves in an anti-clockwise direction (as viewed from above) the cam roller 39 engages the cam 38 to move the same downwardly to thereby swing the arm 29 downwardly against the force of the compression spring 32 (Figs. 13 and 14). The free end of the arm 29 carries a. tubular arm 40 rigidly secured thereto and having an upwardly extending end to which is secured a rubber suction cup 4!. The other end of the tube 49 is connected by a flexible tube 42 to a suction line 43 (Fig. 5) in communication through a valve 44 with a source of suction such as a pump 45; the valve 44 being opened and closed by a link 46 connecting the valve stem to thereciprocating arm 28 and the parts being so constructed and arranged that as the. sucker 4| moves into engagement with the underside of a cap such as 4'! (Fig. 16) suction is exerted to cause the cap to adhere to the sucker 4| and upon downward movement of the arm 29 the cap is moved downwardly from a stack of caps designated as 48. The stack of caps 48 is held in a suitable magazine 49 (Fig. 2) providing yieldable means such as the spring fingers 5!! for supporting the stack and permitting individual caps to be successively withdrawn through said fingers 53 upon the downward movement of the sucker 4 I.

Transverse feed can H Referring more particularly tooFigs. land 2;-

it will be seen that themagazine His-supported (Fig. 8) mounted in a groove in the frame portion 3| and provided with a recess 54 receiving adjustable nuts 55 on the rearwardly extended threaded end of the pusher 5!. The slide 53' is pivotally connected to the reciprocating arm 26 by means of a rod link 56 and associated studs. It will therefore be seen that as the arm 26 moves in a clockwise direction motion is imparted to the pusher fingers 52, causing them'to engage and feed forward the cap then in position to be thus fed. The forward ends of the pusher fingers are undercut to avoid lifting the cap. The timing of the foregoing mechanism is such that as the pusher 5i (Figs. 9 and 10)"is feeding the cap 41 toward the capping head 2H, and after the said cap has been fed beyond the position of the sucker M, the sucker commences its upward movement to engage the lowermost cap then remaining in the stack (Fig. 10 andas the pusher Fig. 5. In the present embodiment this vacuum is of the order of 22 inches of mercury and issufiicient to cause the cap to lie flatly against the upper face of the chamber58, thereby causing the cap to be accurately positioned within the head eventhough the cap be warped. This vacuum line performs the additional function of holding the cap snugly up against the lower face of the head 29 as it is being fed into position within'the head'and thereby prevents the forward edge of the cap from dropping down and assures the engagement of the cap by the fingers 59-66. In order to permit thercap to be discharged under the I weight of thefilled receptacle to which it has 5! moves rearwardlyfrom' the position shown in.

Fig. 10 the sucker M is moved downwardly to place a capin'the position illustrated in Fig. 9

' ready to be fed forward on the succeeding feed stroke of the pusher. 5|. Itis noted at this point that the return or idle stroke of the sucker 4| into engagement with the lowermostcap of the stack is" brought about by the compression .spring 32 (Fig. 12) so. that slight deviations in the horizontal plane of the bottommost cap of the stack do not prevent. the suction engagement between the sucker and the cap; and likewise irregularities in the position of the top of the cap" (such as result from warpage of. the. cap) will not detrimentally affect the proper engagement of the cap by the sucker. Likewise, these slight variations will not affect the feeding stroke of the sucker 4i since'the cam plate arrangement permits these variations and produces a final lower position of the sucker below the horizontal position at which the cap 4'! comes to rest at the end of its down stroke.

As the cap- 5'! is fed forward it passes into and through an opening or gate 5'l'provided in the capping head 29 and in communication with the set from the diameter of the cap and therefore serve to center'the cap in the chamber 58 and (2) they serve to prevent the cap from falling out of the head under the conditions to be hereinafter described' As the cap is fed into the chamber 58 it comes under the influence of a rather strong suctionexertedwithin the chamber through an axial bore Elwhich is connected to acsuitable source of vacuum in the manner illustrated in oppositely been applied, the suction is interrupted by means of'a suitable valve 63'(Fig. 5) controlled by the valve arm 64 whose free end carries a cam roller sfiengaging a cam 56 driven by the shaft 8' (Fig. 2), and provision is made to vent theline upon the raising of the head 29, so as to' immediately break the suction line and relieve the head from suction. Venting is accomplished by a relief hole 20 (Fig. 4) provided in the stem of head 20 and extending radially-from the bore 62 outwardly through the stern wall in vertical spaced alignment with a cooperating hole 2| through the journal bracket 2|, Upon upward movement of the head 20 the holes 20'-2l come into register, thereby immediately breaking the vacuum.- If for any reason the receptacle is not supplied toa cap positioned in the head 20, then'the spring fingers 59-4) exert sufficient force on the cap to prevent it from falling out; but these fingers do not exert a suf icient force to hold a cap against the weight of a'filled receptacle to which the cap has been applied.

I inhibiting cap feed 'The following provision is utilized to prevent the cap-feeding mechanism from feeding a cap to the capping head when a previously fed cap still remains in said head. A cap supporting pair of spaced-apart cam plates 61 (Figs. 6 and 9) are" ,theslot 69 so that as the cam plates are moved forward they are lifted to the point-of dwell on the cam portions 18 and are held in thisposition until displaced; the cam plates 6'5 being given this forward motion upon the forward stroke .ofthe pusher slide 53, whose forward end. engages the cross pin 68 (Fig. 7). In the raised position these connected plates fill provide a positive support and inhibit the feeding of. caps transversely from the stack (Fig. 11) because when the support is in its upper position the cap is prevented from any transverse displacement from the stack by the wall of the magazine 49. As the receptacle 3 is moved upwardly into engagement with the cap carried in the head 26, the'lirnited movement upwardly of the head 20 causes the bevel faces 12 (Figs ll and 6) to engage the corresponding bevel noses on the plates 51 which raises the plates and disengages them from the pins H against which the cam portions Hi ride to return the.

plates 6! to their rearwardly and downwardly inactive positions, as illustrated in Fig. 11a, so that the next succeeding cap may be fed to the capping? it to belifted, the plates 61; remain in the positionindicated in Fig. 11.

I Operation I Referring to Fig- 1; after the container 3 has been filled at station A the stop pins 4 move downwardly and the spring belts I5 convey the receptacle toward station B; but before it reaches station B the succeeding container has arrived at station A and the pins 4 and 4' again move upwardly, the pins 4 stopping the movement of the filled container until the pins 4 are next moved downwardly to permit the container to be fed to static-n B where it comes into engagement with the pins l8 (Fig. 4) which serve to hold it in axial alignment with the capping head 20. During this movement of the container to the capping station the cap has been finally inserted into the capping head in the manner to be more particularly described following.

Commencing with the sucker 4! in the position I indicated in Fig. 10; the sucker has come into operative engagement with the cap 3? and as the arm 26 rotates in an anti-clockwise direction the roller 39 engages the cam 38 and positively moves the sucker downwardly (Fig. 5), during which time the valve 44 is open. Upon continued downward movement of the sucker 4! (Figs. 12 and 13) the cap is seated on the cam plates 6i and the sucker continues to move downwardly withdrawing from engagement with the ,cap.

Preferably, the suction to the sucker 4! is inter' rupted by the closing of the valve immediately after the cap has been seated on itssupport. At the time that the cap 41 is seated on its support the pusher bar fingers 52 are spaced somewhat rearwardly of the edgeof the cap and after the cap has been seated on its support the fingers 52 move forward into feeding'engagement as shown in Fig. 13. The arm 26 is now moving in a clockwise direction and the fingers push the cap from the. position indicated in Fig. 9 through the scribed; and the weightof the filled and capped (Fig. 3) outwardly permitting the filled container to be deposited upon 'thespring belts I5 gate 5'! into the chamber 58, as shown in Fig. 10

(see also Fig. 3); suction through the bore 62 then being exerted to seat the cap in levelalignment within the capping head 29. During the forward movement of the transverse feeding fingers 52 the sucker 4| is being moved upwardly under the influence of the compression spring 32, as the rol1er'39 (Figs. 13-17) passes off the cam 38, and the sucker passes between the bifurcations 52, thereby permitting 1e spring 32 toresiliently but firmly engage the sucker M with the cap il-the upward limit of move- 'ment being determined by a suitable adjustment of the stop 35.

' During the active or feeding movementof the fingers 52 the pusher slide 53 (see also Fig. '7)

has moved the plates 6? forward to the position indicated in Figs. 10 and 11. Upon the commencement of the idle or return stroke of the fingers 52 the table portion i8 (Fig. 4) is moved upwardly so as to bring the upper lip of the receptacle 3' into interfitting engagement with the cap 4'! then positioned in the capping head 28.

(Fig. 4). 'At this time the table portion it has been lowered and the pins i8 have been moved below the conveyor springs l5, thus permitting the filled container to be discharged (Fig. 1) over the pulley l 4. I

From the foregoing it will be seen that if no container is fed to the capping station the capping head is not raised and thereafter the plates 67 (Figs. 11 and 11a) remain in the upper or active position and" thereby inhibit. the feeding of successive caps until the cappinghead 2% has been raised. It will be understood that the suction supplied to the sucker 4! is not sufficiently great to damage either the sucker or the cap and that the positive downward movement of the sucker 41 by the cam 38 (Figs. 12 and 13) is sufficient to disengage the sucker from the cap, whether the cap be supported on the cam plates Bl in raised position, as shown in Fig. 11, or in lowered position, as shown in Fig. 9. It will be understood that as long as the cam plates are in raised position (Fig. 11) the sucker merely engages and disengages the same cap 4?; whereas as long as the head 26 is successively raised during each cycle of operation the sucker engages the respectively successive caps to withdraw them from the stack and into the transverse feeding position for successive movement into the feeding head 20;

Although the invention is especially intended for handling'fianged closure caps of the character described, and has proven to be ideally suited for this purpose; it is also adapted for handling disc caps and the like.

Having thus described my invention with particularity with reference to its presently preferred form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that other changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I aim in the appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.

.What is claimed is: I

1. In a capping device for applying circular caps to receptacles, the combination of a capping head provided with a face against which said cap is to be seated and a downwardly extending flange for limiting the forward movement of a cap fed into said head, resilient fingers disposed below said face and extending inwardly from respectively opposite peripheral sides of said head relative to the direction of said movement for supporting a cap on said head, means for feeding a cap forwardly against said flange andbetween said' fingers into position on said head, suction means for .urging said cap vertically against said face, said resilient fingers being positioned rearwardly from the position on said head corresponding to the diameter of said cap in order to securely center the cap laterally on the head,

the cap surface as the cap is fed forward, said feeding means and resilient fingers and suction means being so constructed and arranged that the suction'means supports the forward portion of said cap during the forward feeding movement 2' thereof into position on said head and assures the supporting engagement resilient fingers.

2. In a capping device for applying circular caps to receptacles, the combination of a capping head provided with a face against which said cap is to be seated and a downwardly extendin flange for limiting the forward movement of a cap fed into said head, resilient fingers disposed of said cap by said below said face and extending inwardly from 3. In a capping device for applying circular caps to receptacles, the combination of a capping head having a face against which said cap is to be seated and a downwardly extending flange for limiting the forward movement of said cap as it is fed into said head, said head being provided with suction means centrally located therein and terminating adjacent the face of said head, means for feeding a cap forwardly against said flange and contiguous the face of said head within the zone of action of said suction means,

said suction means being confined toa relatively small area of said face to insure a vacuum seal upon a relatively small area of the cap surface as said cap is fed forward, said feeding means and suction means being so constructed and arranged that'the said suction means supports the forward portion of said cap during the forward feeding movement thereof into position on said head.

CLIFFORD B. TERRY.

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