US2524594A - Cap feeding and applying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 3, 1950 H. H. FRANZ 5 5 CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1950 FRANZ 2,524,594

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. :HENRY 2H; FR

ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1950 H. H. FRANZ 2,524,594

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet s i lilil'il'il il'e VII Pls. s,

.III 555 52 5a Z8 1,," i 29 \\\\wmmiiziii""" {I I, 54 2O 3! EENRY H Q L TQFMK ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1950 NZ 2,524,594

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 -J FIG. &.

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i f 4/ [4| S" 2 I 2s A i 29 Q l 22 j I c, f; 20 3| INVENTOR. HEINRY 1%.FRENZ wQmT AKLMQ ATTO RN EY Patented Oct. 3, 1950 2,524,594 CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING APPARATUS Henry H. Franz, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Creamery Package Mfg. Company, Chicago,

Application October 29, 1945, Serial No. 625,254

The invention relates to improvements in devices for closing portable receptacles and especially that class which both feeds and applies caps to containers such as milk bottles.

Most devices of this type, commonly called capping heads, consist of a cap magazine, a pressing station wherein a plunger presses a cap onto a bottle, a traverse slot through which the caps are successively passed from the magazine to the pressing station under the action of an injector plate, and means to reciprocate the injector plate in harmony with the presentation of the bottles to the pressing station.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide quick and ready means of disassembly of the parts for cleaning.

It is a primary specification of all dairy machinery that all parts contacting, or approaching contact with the product, be readily detachable for cleaning in such a manner that all surfaces be easily and quickly reached with a brush. In prior designs of capping heads, however, the various connections holding the parts together have been made by means of machine screws, press fitted pins, and the like, requiring tools and tedious mechanical work to effect their detachment. The present invention incorporates novel means of assembly, in that the interiorly-placed parts are engaged in open-ended or hooked relationship, and the exterior members are retained by a relatively few quick-acting hand-released latches, so that when the latter are uncoupled, the remaining parts are progressively presented for unrestricted detachment.

Another object is to provide a head of greater operating convenience.

In prior designs, the cap platform which forms part of thecap traverse slot, through which the cap passes from the magazine to the pressing station, is bolted to the frame member which forms the other part of the said traverse slot. This precludes ready removal of any of the caps which occasionally become jammed in the traverse slot, the operator having resort to probing for it with some pick-like instrument. In the present inventionythe cap platform is readily detached by merely uncoupling a hooked and latched connection, thereby fully opening the traverse slot for ready removal of the jammed cap.

Further, by slanting the cap magazine outwardly, the cap tube in which the caps are normally shipped, and which is normally inserted into the magazine by the operator while the machine is in motion, is brought into a more ac 4 Claims. (01. 226-88.1)

cessible and convenient position for the operator.

A further object is to provide a capping head of simple construction and dependable operating character.

The aforesaid detachable platform obviates any need for the collapsible pins usually provided within the traverse slot for the facilitation of the removal of jammed caps. This, and the fact that the magazine is slanted upwardly and outwardly, allows the lower end of the cap magazine to be placed in closest proximity to the pressing station and shortens appreciably the stroke of the injector plate. As the cap feeding action is derived from the conversion of the vertical displacement of the magazine body into lateral motion of the injector plate, it follows that a shorter stroke of the injector plate for a given displacement of the magazine body results in a greater effect of the weight of the head in causing the injector plate to feed the cap. As a result of this favorable weight stroke relationship, a lesser load may be imposed on the bottle to feed the caps. Still other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view;

Figure 2 is a front elevation;

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation with the head shown in readiness to cap an approaching bottle; and

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of the head in the act of applying a cap to a bottle.

Referring to the drawings l0 represents a support having spaced side walls II, II, and a cross member l2 spanning the space between the walls and connected thereto at their upper ends.

A cylindrical plunger M, in cross section, is provided with a stem l5 which has a sliding fit through the cross member l2 and is held in position by a latch member or key [6. A collar l! is fixed to the stem l5 and interposed between the collar and cross member I 2 is a coil spring l8 for urging the plunger I4 downwardly from the cross member.

A platform 2!] is provided on its upper surface at one end thereof with a headed stud 2! and at its opposite end with a slot 22. Mounted on the platform is a body portion 24 having a slotted end 25 which surrounds the stud 2| and which body 24 is held in position by the head of said stud 2|.

The body 24 is provided with a vertical cylinder 21, the bore of which extends through the body 24, and is adapted to receive the plunger head I 4. The body 24 is provided with a slot '28 at the end opposite to the slot 25, which registers with the slot 22 in the platform 20. A bolt 29 is received in the slots 22 and 28 of the platform and body 24, respectively. The head 30 of the bolt 29 engaging the upper surface of the body 24, and a nut 3| on the bolt engaging the lower surface of the platform 20 for securing the body to the platform.

The platform 26 is provided with an opening 32 therethrough which registers with the bore of the cylinder '21, and the lower surface of the platform around the opening 32 has a tapered cavity 34 terminating inwardly in a downwardly facing shoulder 35. The lower face of the body 24 and upper surface of the platform 2e are recessed to provide a transverse slot 36, which at the end Where it registers with the opening 32 of the platform and bore of the cylinder 27 forms the pressing station 31 for the cap in applying it to a bottle.

Formed on the body 2 is a cap magazine 38 which has the bore thereof disposed at a tangent to the platform 20 so that the caps will be delivered to the slot 36 without jamming, Located in the slot 33 and extending transversely of the body and platform is an injector plate 46, for feeding the caps from the magazine 33 to the pressing station. The injector plate is providedwith two upwardly extending flanges M, (ii which engage the sides 53 of the body 24 in guiding the injector in its movement in the slot 3%.

The cylinder Z? is provided on opposite walls with lugs or guides e5, 65 received in vertical grooves 46 formed in the sides ll of the support ill to allow for reciprocating movement of the cylinder within the support and relative to the plunger i i, but prevent "any rotary movement of the cylinder and body 2 3 with respect to the plunger. A booster spring rig is interposed between theupper end of the cylinder 21 and the collar i? for maintaining the cylinder, body and platform disposed with respect to the collar l1 and the operating end of plunger I l to insure the various parts functioning in a proper manner.

Rocker arms 56, '59 are disposed at each side 43 of the body 25, and are pivoted on studs 5!, 5| formed on the side walls 43. The arms are provided with holes 52, for the reception of the studs 5i, adjacent the upper outer edges thereof, while at the forward portions elongated slots 53 are provided.

Collar if is providedwith oppositely disposed horizontal holes or openings 55, 55. Links 51, 5'! are provided at their ends with laterally, extending-studs 58, The studs 58 of the'link El entering the holes 55 of the collar IT, and the studs 59 being received in the slots 53 of the rocker arms Each rocker arm 50 is provided on the lower edge with a slot *5 l, which is located beneath the hole 52 thereof. These slots 6| engage studs 62, 52 on the flanges ii of the injector plate id. The links 51 are provided at their upper ends and in alinement with th studs 58 with recesses E511 formed on the outer faces of the links, for the reception of the ends of a spring. clip 65 formed somewhat in the shape of a C, for spanning the two links and attaching them to the collar ll. This spring clip retains the links 51 and rocker arms so in place, and as the links are disposed exteriorly of the rocker arms they are retained on their pivots 5!. It is to be noted that the studs 58, 59 of the links and studs'6'2 are all in line which eliminates any side torque and obtaining a direct thrust or pullon the pins and their connecting parts during the movement 4 of the rocker arms. By having the pins or studs in line, and on same side of links there will be no twisting or side torque of the studs in their bearings and thereby eliminating frictional resistance.

The oscillating movement imparted to the rocker arms 50 is arrested by stops or lugs 66 on the sides of the cylinder 21 by the forward edge 6'! of the rocker arms contacting the stops, Figure 3, and this arrests the injector plate 40 in delivering a cap to the pressing station 31.

It will be appreciated that the links 51 may be detached from the collar ll upon removal of the spring clip 6-5, and thereupon the links can be disengaged from the rocker arms 55, upon withdrawing the studs 59 from the slots 53. The rocker arms 59 can now be removed from their studs 5! on the body, and removed from the studs 62 on the injector plate 40 through the slots 6! therein. The platform 2i may now, if it has not been removed before, be disconnected from the body 2 5 by removing the bolt 29 and nut 3|, and then sliding the platform with respect to the body to remove the stud. 2i from the slot 25 of the body. This releases the injector plate, and all of the parts are disassembled. The plunger hi may be detached from the support by removing the key [6.

The body 24, with the attached studs 45, El and 56, the rocker arms 50, the injector plate 40 with the attached studs 62, the cap platform 20 with the attached stud 2!, the spherical headed screw 29 and the nut 35 comprise a cap feeding assembly which acts as a whole in reciprocating vertically on the cap plunger l4 and is supported in rest position, as in Figure 3, by the engagement of the upper walls of the slots 53 with the studs 59 of the connecting links 51. In this position the cap plunger M is in relatively retracted position from the cap in the pressing station, the rocker arms have their facing edges 87 abutted against the studs 66, and the injector plate 40 is in its innermost position with one edge adjacent the cap in the pressing station. The latch member it is seated on the upper face of the fixed support I2.

A vertically advancing bottle 68 (Figure 4), is guided by the tapered walls of the cavity 34 until the bottle top is seated against the shoulder 35 with the cap seat, in the bottle aligned with the plunger and the pressing station. Further advancement of the bottle results in upward displacement of the aforementioned cap feeding assembly so that the bottlenow supports the weight of the assembly and the-connecting link studs 59 move from theupper'to the lower ends of the are shaped slots 53 in the rocker arms. At this point the pressing static-,1 is approaching the lower end of the cap plunger. Continued advancement of the bottle displaces the cap feeding assembly still further and causes the rocker arms '53 to rock outward on their pivots 5! thereby moving the injector plate 4i! out from under the stack of caps, allowing them to come to rest on the lower wall of the traverse slot 36 Simultaneous with theoutward motion of the injector plate, the'capplunger passes through the pressing station, pushing the cap through the hole 32 in the cap platform and into the seat of the bottle. Y

The seating of the cap in the bottle marks the point at which relative motion between the cap feeding assembly and the cap plunger ceases during the upward motionof the bottle. Further upward motion of uthe bottle results in equal upward motion. of both cap feeding assembly and cap plunger, the plunger working against the force of the spring it, the latch member I6 leaving the fixed support a small amount which varies as the heights of the successive bottles, Figure e.

The cap now being applied, the bottle reverses its direction and starts its departure from the head, allowing the plunger and cap feeding assembly to fall together until th latch member 18 reaches its seat on the fixed support at which time the cap plunger comes to rest and the cap feeding assembly continues downward with the bottle. The lower end of the cap plunger retracts from the cap seat through the hole 32 and through the pressing station after which the connecting link studs 59 having moved back up to contact the upper walls of the elongated slots 53 in the rocker arms.

Further downward motion of the cap feeding assembly with the bottle results in inward motion of the injector plate which carries the bottom cap from the stack of caps in the magazine through the traverse slot to the pressing station.

When the cap reaches the pressing station, the rest position described at the beginning of the operation is reached and the bottle leaves contact with the head.

The above sequence is repeated for every bottle which is advanced to the head.

In case of the presentation of a deformed cap, which generally jams in the traverse slot, it is removed by the following procedure: the operator loosens the nut M on the screw 29 just enough to allow detachment of the couple through the aligned slots 22 and 28. The cap platform is then rearwardly detached and the jammed cap is removed, the injector plate being held up against the body, thereby supporting the stack of caps in the magazine.

To disassemble the head for cleaning, the latch member 16 is extracted, allowing the downward detachment of the head from the fixed support and the detachment of the spring I 8. The C- shaped member 65 is then removed allowing detachment of the connecting links and the plunger and collar assembly which is made as a single piece not requiring separation. With the detachment of the screw and the nut couple 29 and 3! and the cap platform from the body, the injector plate and operating arms are freed for detachment.

What I claim is:

1. In a bottle capping mechanism, the combination of a support, a plunger mounted thereon having a collar connected thereto, a body member having a cylinder adapted to be slid over the free end of said plunger and to have sliding movement thereon, rocker arms removably pivoted to said body member, an injector plate for delivering caps to said plunger removably pivoted to said rocker arms, andlinks disposed exteriorly of said rocker arms and having a stud and slot connection therewith, said links having a stud and hole connection with said collar for removably supporting the body member on said plunger and retaining the rocker arms on said body member, and a resilient clip spanning said links for detachably connecting said links to said collar and rocker arms and maintaining said rocker arms on said body member and said links on said collar.

2. In a bottle capping mechanism, the combination of a support, a plunger mounted thereon having a collar connected thereto, a body member having a cylinder adapted to be slid over the 6 free end of said plunger and to have sliding movement thereon, rocker arms removably pivoted to said body member, an injector plate for delivering caps to said plunger removably pivoted to said rocker arms, and links disposed exteriorly of said rocker arms and having a stud and slot connection therewith, said links having a stud and hole connection with said collar for removably supporting the body member on said plunger and retaining the rocker arms on said body member, and a clip spanning said collar and links for detachably connecting the links together and maintaining said links on said collar and said rocker arms on said body member.

3. In a bottle capping mechanism, the combination of a support, a plunger mounted thereon having a collar connected thereto, said collar having oppositely disposed holes in the sides thereof, a body member and a platform, said platform being provided with a headed stud, said body member having a slot therein for the reception of said headed stud, said body member and said platform having aligned slots, locking means received in said slots for securing the said body member and platform together, an injector plate slidable between said body member and platform and provided with outwardly extending studs, a cylinder and cap magazine formed on said body member, pivot studs disposed on opposite sides of said body member, rocker arms located on opposite sides of said body member and loosely pivoted on said pivot studs, said rocker arms having slots arranged adjacent the upper and lower edges thereof, and the lower slots receiving said injector plate studs, links having studs disposed at each end and along one side thereof, each of said links having a, stud thereof received in an upper slot of said rocker arms and having a stud thereof received in a hole of said collar, said links being disposed exteriorly of said rocker arms for retaining the rocker on said body member, and a clip spanning said links and having engagement therewith for connecting said links to said collar and maintaining said studs of said links in said collar and said rocker arms.

4. In a bottle capping mechanism, the combination of a support, a plunger mounted thereon, a collar connected to said plunger, a platform and a body member mounted thereon, means for detachably connecting the body member to the platform, a cylinder for the plunger on said body, an injector plate for delivering caps from the magazine to the plunger, rocker arms pivotally mounted on the body, means for connecting said rocker arms to said injector plate, links detachably pivoted to said rocker arms and said collar, and a clip spanning said links and having the ends thereof engaging said links for detachably connecting said links to said collar.

HENRY H. FRANZ.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

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