US2501441A - Beverage mixing machine - Google Patents

Description

March 21,1950 5^. DOMACK mi. -2,501,441"' BEVERAGE MIXING MACHINE Filed Dec. 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS John J Rutkawski Stanze LA. Donzack y i Da nczl 'zlsslez]` March 21, 1950 s. A. DOMACK Erm. 2,501,441

BEVERAGE MIXING MACHINE Filed Dec. 13, 1948 2 Sherets-Sl'xeeiz INVENTOR; John .I Rafkowskz Std/lle A Domczck Patented Mar. 21, 1950 BEVERAGE MIXING MACHINE Stanley A. Domack, John J. Rutkowski, and Donald L. Sissler, Oshkosh, Wis., assignors to Keenline Equipment Corporation,

Oshkosh,

Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application December 13, 1948, Serial No. 65,012

2 claims.. (o1. 259-57) ThisA invention relates to improvements in beverage mixing machines.- Machines for mixing the constituents. of bottled beverages, that is, the sirup and charged water of soft drinks following the bottle iilling and capping operations, have been developed and are in commercial use. Some such machines agitate the capped bottles after they have been packed in cases or in cartons while others are of the type that agitate the bottles to eiiect the mixing of the' contents prior to the packaging of the bottles. The present improvements relate to machines of the latter type and particularly to improvements in the machine shown in the Domack et al. application, Serial No. 48,416, iiled September 9, 1948.

The machine of the type. referred to is provided with a rotor that operates on a horizontal axis and carries on its periphery a number of open-ended radially arranged cells into one end of each of which during each rotation a filled and capped bottle enters and at the other end of which at each rotation, after the cell has been fully loaded, a bottle is discharged. Such cells are arranged to hold from four to six bottles generally, depending on the amount of agitation required in properly mixing the constituents of the bottled beverage for the mixing of which the machine has been designed. Hence, each bottle that enters the machine at one end of the cell is rotated the number of times that corresponds to the bottle holding capacity of the cells of the machine. Generally, cells that hold six bottles each are preferred since it has been found that rotating the bottle about a horizontal axis six times effects a thorough mixing of most soft drinks. In some instances, a fewer number of rotations is satisfactory and hence, the cells of some such machines may have a smaller bottle holding capacity. In machines of the type referred to during the mixing cycle of a particular bottle, the bottle is advanced one stepcorre spending approximately. 'to' the lbottle' diameteralong the cell from the intake end toward the discharge end thereof upon each rotation until, upon completing the iinal rotation, the bottle is discharged from the cell upon a conveyor that carries it to a position'for packaging for delivery to customers or for storage.

In the machine of the type herein under consideration, a delivery conveyor is provided that receives freshly lled and capped bottles in upright position and delivers them in succession to. an infeed station ofthe machine in which station the bottles are tilted'into contact with a bottle deiiector that directs them from the conveyor through a passage-way and into the open intake ends of the cells during rotation of the cells in registration with the passage-way. Since the bottles must move from the delivery conveyor into the cells as for insuring that successive bottles will move completely into the receiving ends of successive cells, rather than only partially into the cells and thus jam the machine, is desirable.

The present invention relates to such control means and one object of the invention is to provide, in combination with such mixing machine, improved mechanism for timing or synchronizing the movements of successive bottles from the delivery conveyor to an infeed passage with respect to the movement of the respective receiving cells successively into a bottle receiving position for the purpose of insuring that the bottles will enter the cells fully and thus avoid damage to the bottles by becoming jammed between an edge of the cell and a stationary portion of the machine defining the passage-way through which the bottles are directed.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the type mentioned, a control mechanism that can readily be synchronized operationally with the rotative movements of the bottle-receiving cells of the machine rotor.

Other objects of the invention relate to various features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a broken side elevation of a machine which is illustrative of the present improveme'nts;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken plan view of the portion of the machine adjacent the control mechanism at the bottle infeed side of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a broken top plan view of the portion of the machine adjacent the bottle discharge side of the rotor;

Fig. 4 is a broken end elevation of the portionof the machine shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a brokensectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. l; and Fig. 6 is a side elevational viewv 'of a sheet metal bottle holding cell shown in detached relation, the same being indicated as being filled with bottles as during a mixing operation.

In the drawings, the machine illustrated is provided with side plates I il which support a horizontal shaft H that is mounted in bearings carried by the side plates and which carries a rotor structure indicated by the numeral l 2. The

. rotor shown is illustrated as comprising hexago-- f nal e'nd plates, since in the particular machine selected for the purpose of illustration, six cells are employed. The rotor is disposed between the side plates and is driven by any approved means such as a belt i3 operated preferably by the latter move through a relatively small angle of arc, control means,

a speed reduction mechanism i4, which in turn is operated by an electric motor i5.

The rotor I2 carries six open-ended cells each indicated by the numeral iB. Preferably these cells are made of sheet metal and are of suitable width and height for receiving the bottles. In

instances, as described in the above-identified Y application where bottles of smaller diameter or lesser height are to be used in the machine, appropriate filler members are inserted in the cells. Such members are not shown in the present drawings. The machine is provided with a delivery conveyor I1 of any suitable length and to which are supplied the bottles b that have been freshly lled and capped and which are to be agitated by the machine for the purpose of effecting mixing of the constituents of the contained beverage. The conveyor H is shown as being supported by a sprocket i8 at one end and by a sprocket I9 at the other end. the latter sprocket being l mounted on the shaft H and operated thereby. Adjacent the conveyor H outer and inner guard rails 2) and 2| are provided for confining the bottles in tandem relationship in their movement along the conveyor, upright position on the conveyor as indicated in Fig. l, until they move in succession through the Vertical plane passing through the shaft H when, due to the fact that the conveyor passes around the sprocket I9. the bottles are tilted to the right (as viewed in said figure) until they assume a position of bottle B. As a bottle tilts to the position of bottle B, it is engaged by a curved bottle deflector member 22 (see Fig. 2)

which directs the inclined bottle laterally from the conveyor toward the rotor. A stationary guard plate 23 is provided adjacent the ends of the cells I6 which normally serves as an end closure member for the cells except when a cell is in registration with a passage-way 24 in the plate which is arranged radially of the rotor at about an angle of 30 to the vertical. The width of the passage-way 24 enables a bottle, such as a bottle B, to roll under the added impetus given to it by the tilting movement above mentioned through the passage-way into the open end of the cell i6 When a cell is in registration with the passage-Way. Hence, as the bottles are fed to the infeed station which may be considered as the region at which the bottle begins to tilt and roll laterally along the deilector 22, they move in succession from the conveyor into successive cells as the latter move into registration with the passage-way 24.

If it be assumed that a cell has received a bottle in the end portion thereof. such bottle will be shifted along the cell one step to a second bottle position by a bottle shifting member 25 which is secured to the plate 23 and which by camming action advances the bottle to the second position as the bottle holding cell completes its iirst complete rotation after receiving the bottle in question. For the purpose of enabling the shifting member 25 to so advance the bottles in ther cells the latter are provided with cut-outs 21 as indicated in Fig. 6. Between adjacent cells at the. bottle-receiving ends thereof, filler members 23 are provided which may be of metal or of Wood. and are likewise provided with slots which form continuations of slots 2l for accommodating the stationary shifting member 25 during rotation of the rotor. Hence, as each cell reaches the uppermost vertical position in the arrangement illustrated, the bottle shifting member advances all the bottles in that cell one step The bottles move in toward the opposite or discharge ends of the cells. When the cells have been filled, that is, when any cell contains six bottles in a six-bottle cell machine, the completion of the next rotation will effect the discharge of a bottle from the cell upon a receiving conveyor 29 and thus provide space at the intake end of the respective cell for receiving the bottle that is next deflected through the passage-way 24 by the deector 22.

As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, receiving conveyor 29 extends adjacent the discharge end of the rotor for receiving bottles discharged in succession from respective cells as the cells move into the discharge position. The conveyor delivers the agitated bottles to a packing station generally where the bottles are packed for shipment or storage. The conveyor 29 may be operated from a sprocket (not shown) mounted on the shaft Il. l

Since the bottles move from the delivery conveyor il into the cells of the constantly rotating rotor, it is desirable, in assuring smooth operation of the machine that bottles be directed into the passage-Way 24 in such timed relation with respect to the movements of the receiving cells that the bottles will pass fully into the cells rather than only part way in and thus become jammed between the trailing vertical edges of the cells and a stationary portion of the passageway. For the purpose of synchronizing the movement of bottles from the receiving station through the passage-way with respect to the movements of the cells in succession into registration with the passage-way, suitable control mechanism has been provided. In the form of the mechanism illustrated, a star wheel 3D is provided which is mounted on a vertical shaft 3l and extends partially over the conveyor l1 so that the teeth of the star wheel will obstruct passage of the bottles approaching the deiiector 22. The star wheel 30 is provided with a hub 32 having pins 33 projecting radially therefrom, the pins corresponding in number to the points of the wheel. In the instance shown, a sixpointed wheel is provided and hence, there are six of the pins 33. A pawl 34 is shown pivotally mounted at 35 and having an arm 36 that is provided with a cam follower or roller 31 which contacts a cam 38 shown as being mounted on the end of the shaft Il. The cam is secured to the end of the shaft by a set screw 39 which enables the cam to be adjusted angularly upon the shaft to a position which insures that the equally spaced cam surfaces or protuberances 40 will successively engage the follower 3l' in properly timed relation hereinafter referred to. The upper arm 4l of the pawl is provided with a pin engaging portion 42 adapted to engage the pins 33 successively for arresting rotation of the star wheel in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 under the propelling force exerted thereon by the contacting bottles on the conveyor Il. Whenever the pawl is operated clockwise from the position shown in Fig. 4 by one of the cam members M1 for releasing the engaged pin 33. the star wheel is free to move on the shaft 3i. Hence a bottle such as a bottle b shown in Fig. 2 will be freed for further movement to the right for Contact with the bottle deflector 22 when the pawl is next actuated to releasing position from the position shown in Fig. 4. Thecam 38 is so positioned on the shaft ll that the release of a. successive bottle from the position of bottle b' shown in Fig. 2 occurs at the instant such that the bottle will move into contact with the bottle deflector 22 and through the passage 24 as the next receiving cell moves into registration with the passage 24 whereby such bottle can move fully into the cell without jamming the machine. It will be seen, therefore, that as successive bottles move along the conveyor l1 to the infeed station of the machine, their movement will be arrested by the star wheel when the latter is engaged by the pawl and will be released by the action of the cam 38 to insure synchronization of the movement of the bottles successively through the passage-way 24 with respect to the movement of successive cells into bottle-receiving position with respect to the passage-way.

The shaft 3l upon which the star wheel 30 is mounted may be supported in proper position by a member 43, or the like, secured to the frame member l of the machine. A suitable enclosure may be provided around the control mechanism above described, if desired.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the bottles moving along the conveyor I7 to the infeed station have their movement controlled by the star wheel as they move into the infeed station and are released seriatum in properly timed relation for deflection by the member 22 through the passage 24 into the open ends of the cells as the cells move into registration with the passage-way to insure a smoothly operating machine.

It will be understood that in the particular machine described above, each bottle makes six complete rotations with the rotor before it is discharged upon the receiving conveyor 29, all the bottles in the cell being shifted one step toward the discharge end as each cell moves by the bottle shifting member 25 during each rotation of the rotor. Hence during each rotation, the machine normally receives six bottles and discharges six bottles. Where a machine has a different number of cells, different but similar control means are provided therefor for insuring synchronization of deflection of bottles into the cells, as above described. Adjacent the discharge ends of the cells a stationary plate 44 is provided that prevents displacement of bottles from the cells except as each cell registers with a discharge passage 45 (shown in Fig. 3) through which the bottles are ejected from the machine by the camming action on the bottles of the respective cells afforded by the shifting member 25. Adjacent the discharge opening 45 a stabilizer member 46 preferably is provided in the form of a rubber strap that prevents bottles from tipping over as they are discharged upon the conveyor 29.

While we have shown and described a structure which is illustrative of our invention, various changes in the details may be made in the structure without departure from the spirit of the invention defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A machine for mixing the constituents of a beverage in bottles by rotating the bottles about a horizontal axis while disposed in radial planes comprising a rotor mounted on a horizontal axis and provided with a plurality of open-ended radially arranged cells into which the bottles are fed at one end and discharged at the other end, a stationary closure for the intake ends of the cells provided with an infeed passage disposed in a position for registration with the intake ends of each cell during each rotation of the rotor and through which passage the bottles pass successively into the open ends of succeeding cells as the latter move seriatum into registration with said passage, a bottle delivery conveyor for delivering bottles in tandem relationship to a position adjacent said passage, means for'deflecting bottles from the conveyor at said position for movement through said passage, and mechanism comprising a star wheel projecting over the conveyor into the path of travel of the bottles thereon for engagement with and movement by bottles moving along the conveyor, means for automatically latching the star wheel against movement following a predetermined angular movement thereof in releasing a bottle for arresting movement of a succeeding bottle along the conveyor toward said deflector, and cam controlled means for releasing said latching means to effect release by said star wheel of the succeeding engaged bottles seriatum in timed relation with respect to predetermined angular positions of said cells for movement of the released bottles by the conveyor to the deflector and deflection by the latter through said passage in synchronism with the registration of the open ends of successive cells with said passage.

2. A machine for mixing the constituents of a beverage in bottles by rotating the bottles about a horizontal axis while disposed in radial planes comprising a rotor mounted on a horizontal axis and provided with a plurality of open-ended radially arranged cells into which the bottles are fed at one end and discharged at the other end, a stationary closure for the intake ends of the cells provided with an infeed passage disposed in a position for registration with the intake ends of each cell during each rotation of the rotor and through which passage the bottles pass successively into the open ends of succeeding cells as the latter move seriatum into registration with said passage, a bottle delivery conveyor for delivering bottles in tandem relationship to a position adjacent said passage, means for deflecting bottles from the conveyor at said position for movement through said passage, and mechanism for controlling the delivery of bottles by the conveyor to said deflector for deflection seriatum by the latter through said passage as the cells move in succession into bottle receiving position with respect to said passage, said mechanism comprising a rotatable star wheel extending over said conveyor for engagement and arcuate movement by successive bottles moving along the conveyor, a holding pawl for engaging said star wheel for arresting movement of successive bottles towards said deector, and a rotatable cam for actuating the pawl for effecting the release of successive bottles by the star wheel as the cells move successively into a predetermined angular position with respect to said passage.

STANLEY A. DOMACK.

JOHN J. RUTKOWSKI.

DONALD L. SISSLER.

Imaginations CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,355,032 Brown Oct. 5, 1920 2,043,621 Judd June 9, 1936 2,174,256 Chilton Sept. 26, 1939 2,265,803 Davis Dec. 9, 1941 2,281.791 Newton May 5, 1942

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