US2384052A - Cap feeding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

SePt- 4, 1945- R. J. STEWART Erm.

CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l lll LMANNS Sept 4, 1945. R. J. STEWART ET AL 2,384,052

CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I HU (31 wd HOLd/J Patented Sept. 4, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAP FEEDING APPARATUS Robert J. Stewart and John S. Bartley, Baltimore, Md., assignors to Crown Cork da Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York Application August 29, 1941, Serial No. 408,875

(Cl. 22S-88.1)

1 Claim.

This invention relates to cap feeding means and has as a principal purpose to provide means for eifectivelv supporting a stack of caps and for isolating the lowermost cap and supporting the remainder oi' the stack while the said lowermost cap is ejected.

, 'I'he invention is particularly applicable to a milk bottle capping machine such as is disclosed in Patent No. 1,956,218, granted April 24, 1934, to G. J. Huntley and Harry A. Rau, although not limited to such association. According to the said patent a stack of caps is supported at three localized points and consequently deformation o! the lowermost cap is apt to occur as a result of the superimposed weight, especially if the cap metal is iight. According to the present invention the lowermost cap rests on ample supporting surfaces and prior to each electing operation caps above the lowermost are somewhat upwardly displaced so as to free the latter suiliciently for lateral movement. This operation is eilected, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention which will be hereinafter described in detail, by a single movable blade and consequently. as over the device of the above mentioned patent, wherein there are several movable supporting members for the stack, the cost of manufacture is materially lowered.

Another substantial advantage is that according to the present invention there is positive separation o! the caps if stuck together by lacquer or sealing compound, and very thin discs can be separated without distortion. According to the said patent the lowermost disc is separated from the remainder and drops freely to position for ejection. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, however, a portion of the weight of the remainder of the stack rests on the separated lowermost cap so that the latter is held down and is bound to be engaged by the ejecting member.

Moreover. in a capping machine including our improved feed mechanism, there is no wastage when the head becomes jammed, as no caps will be separated from the stack execpt the one which is being applied to the bottle. Since the present mechanism permits the use of caps of lighter material, the cost of the cap is reduced and in the capping of bottles therewith there will be less breakage than heretofore due to the smaller sealing pressure required.

Reference will now be made to the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of capping apparatus including the cap feeding mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section substantially on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the lower portion of the apparatus of Figure l taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section substantially on line I-l of Figure 2 with the parts occupying the position shown in the latter iigure.

Figure 5 is a section like that of Figure 4 but showing the parts in a different relation.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a form of cap which the disclosed apparatus is particularly designed to feed, and

Figure 7 is a diametrical section oi the cap of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings, reference numeral ill designates a vertical cylinder adapted to be fixedly secured to any suitable support as by bolting through a ange il. Reference numeral i2 designates the shank portion of a capping head I3, the said shank portion being splined in the cylinder I0 for limited vertical reciprocation and normally occupying its lowermost position. A vertical tube M fixed on the head casting constitutes with the vertically bored underlying portion i5 of the latter a cap magazine M. Pivoted to portion I5 at i5' is a base block I 6 which is adapted to be held in the full line operative posi tion of Figure 1 by latch means I1, the block being adapted to swing to the dotted line position to give access to the capping head.

Block lli is provided with a vertical cylindrical throat i8 which, in the latched position of the block, is coaxial with a presser foot il and with an expansible sealing ring 20 which normally lie above a cap supporting flange 2i formed in the upper portion of the throat. With a cap, such as is shown in Figures 6 and 7, supported on ilange 2i, a bottle elevated into the throat I8 will move the cap upwardly against the presser foot I9 and the cap will be applied in the manner fully disclosed in the Huntley et al. patent and needing no repetition here since the present development is concerned solely with mechanism for feeding caps from a stack, as in the magazine M, to a position such as on the flange 2 I.

Fixed to the bottom of portion l5 in opposite recesses are plates 22 and 23 whose margins project within the cylindrical bore of the magazine and are arcuately recessed as particularly shown in Figure 2. These inwardly projecting margins of plates 22 and 23 serve to support a stack of caps C in the magazine, opposite portions of substantial area of the cap resting on these margins without danger of distortion due to the weight. Adia centthecappinsheadthewallorportionls recessed at its lower end, as at I4', Figure 3, above the top level of platee 22 and 2l to provide clearance for the movement of a cap on the latter toward the capping head and the wall oi throat il adiacent the is at Il' lust above flange 2| to provide similar clearance and to provide continuations of the topsuri'acesofplatesnandnushwiththe top of the ilange. By means which will now be described. a cap can be propelled from the magazine along the rails constituted by plates 22 and 22 into the throat i2 for application to a bottle.

Beneath portion i5 the block il is provided with a horizontal cylindrical bore 24 interrupted at the top by a parallel walled slot 25. Guided in bore 24 is a cylindrical member 2i to the top oi' which is secured a longitudinally 'extending bar 21 which is guided by the edges of slot 26. The top surface of bar 21 is ilush with the top surfaces or plates 22 and 23, or is below the latter, except at its forward end where it is provided with an upward projection 2l, the said forward end projecting somewhat beyond member 2G. Horlzontally elongated slots 29 and Il, Figures i and 3, are formed in the side walls of the bore 24 and through these proiect coaxial trunnions 3i and 32 which are Secured to slide member 24. A bell crank lever 33 is pivoted intermediate its arms 24 and 25 on a pin 3i mounted in a horizontal bore of the ilxed member Il. 'Ihe arm 24 is pivoted at 21 to the tube I4 and the lower end of arm I5 is pivoied at 3l to one end of a link 39 whose other end pivotally engages trunnlon Il. n the opposite side of the machine another bell crank lever exactly like lever 34 is pivoted on pin 28 and at the end of its short arm to tube i4 coaxially with the pivot point I1, the long arm 40, Figure 2, of this second lever being pivotally connected with trunnion 32 through a link 4i.

In Figures 1 to 4, the head is in its lower position relative to the casing il and from Figures 2 and 3 it will be seen that the projection 2l of slide member 21 is directly adjacent the outer periphery of ilange 2i, suitable clearances being provided for the leading end of the slide member beneath the path of the cap. During the capping operation the bottle lifts the head causing the levers as at 34 to swing in a clockwise direction about pivot 36 so that slide member 21 is moved to a position wherein the projection 28 lies just to the left of the bore of the magazine, Figures 2 and 3. When the bottle is lowered at the end oi the capping operation, the head follows downwardly, reversely swinging the levers as at 34 so that the slide member 21 is returned to the position of Figures 2 and 3.

As here shown, each cap C has a flat marginal portion CI and a circular upwardly oil'set portion C2. Complete nesting of the caps is preferably prevented by protuberances as at C3, such provisions being disclosed in Reissue Patent 19,422, issued to G. W. Booth, January 13, 1935. The marginal portion Cl of the cap is of uniform thickness and adapted to rest flatly on the inner margins of plates 22 and 23.

Pivoted above plate 23 on a vertical axis at 42 in a recess in the superiacent side wall of the portion I is a blade 42 having an angular horizontal edge 44 presenting a point 4l. Above the edgelllsaninclinedorwedgesurfacewhich terminatesinailattopsurfaoftheblade. Thelowerleadingportionofthebladehasa horizontal undercut 4I so that edge 44 is spaced above the surface of plate 22 a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the cap margin C1- Fixed to lever I5 is a plate 4l whose inner face is recessed to provide a cam il, Hgure 2, having a face sloped to the right away from a plane surface or dwell 5i, the latter terminating in a laterally elongated hook formtlon 52. Blade 43 has fixed therein an upwardly projecting pin Il cooperable with the cam and hook in a manner 'which will now be described.

InFigurIiandlt-heheadisasumedtobe inthe downpositionofFlgurel anditisassumed that a cap C is supported on the iiange 2i of throat il. The stack in the magazine is supported on plates 22 and 2l and possibly, although not necessarily, on the ilat top surface of the slide member or ejector 21. Blade 43 is entirely outside of the magazine bore and hence free of thecapsinthelatter. Piniiisinthehookill of plate 48.

As a bottle is now elevated into the throat I8, the head is carried upwardly and the levers as at 34 are swung in a clockwise direction as herefore mentioned. Projection 22 strikes the lower` most cap during the enforced return motion of the slide and agitates and loosens the stack. The at surface 5I of plaie 49 has been moving along pin 62 without aiecting the latter, but as the slide approaches its left hand limit position, cam 5l reaches the pin with the result that blade 43 is swung in a clockwise direction and the edge 44 is forced between the lowermost cap, without ailecting the latter, and the succeeding cap. The edge of the succeeding cap is engaged by the wedge surface 46 and rides up thereon a distance determined by the thickness of the blade so that the upward oilsets of the lowermost cap and succeeding cap are substantially unnested, Figure 5. The eilective thickness of the blade may, of course, -be varied in accordance with the height oi' the offsets.

The weight of the stack is now supported partly on top oi' blade 43 and partly on the opposite margin of the lowermost cap. The blade closely overlies, without bearing on, the marginal portion of the lower-most cap which is in the cutout 48 and consequently it is impossible for the said lowermost cap to escape from square support on rails 22 and 23. The amount of inward projection of the edge 44 is, of course. determined by the height of cam 5|), and the latter is chosen so that the said edge will stop short oi the oilset of the lowermost cap.

As the head and magazine lower at the end of the capping operation. plate 49 is swung in a counter-clockwise direction and cam 50 releases pin 53. Projection 28 of the ejector strikes the bottom cap and carries the latter from beneath the remainder of the stack to the ledge 2|. As this position is approached the hook 52 strikes Din ll and the blade 43 is returned to the position of Figures 2 and 4 and the machine is ready for the next capping operation.

It will be understood that the disclosure herein is intended as typical and not as restrictive of the invention and that we do not limit ourselves 'to details of construction except as in the iollowing claim.

We claim: Cam feeding apparatus comprising means providing a bottom support for a stack oi' caps. a

tion of movement of said member to insert said blade and including an abutment portion engaging said pin in the other direction of movement of said member to retract said blade, and means for ejecting said lowermost cap while the blade is inserted.

ROBERT J. STEWART.

JOHN S. BARTLEY.

Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,384,052.

September 4, 1945.

ROBERT J. STEWART ET A L.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requirin for Cam read Cap; an

correction as follows: Page 2, second column, line 74, that the seid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 1st day of October, A. D. 1946.

[ml-l LESLIE FRAZER,

First Assistant ommzssoner of Patents.

tion of movement of said member to insert said blade and including an abutment portion engaging said pin in the other direction of movement of said member to retract said blade, and means for ejecting said lowermost cap while the blade is inserted.

ROBERT J. STEWART.

JOHN S. BARTLEY.

Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,384,052.

September 4, 1945.

ROBERT J. STEWART ET A L.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requirin for Cam read Cap; an

correction as follows: Page 2, second column, line 74, that the seid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 1st day of October, A. D. 1946.

[ml-l LESLIE FRAZER,

First Assistant ommzssoner of Patents.

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