US2551011A

US2551011A - Spinner brake for beverage mixers

Info

Publication number: US2551011A
Application number: US537A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kantor James
Original assignee: Liquid Carbonic Corp
Current assignee: Liquid Carbonic Corp
Priority date: 1948-01-05
Filing date: 1948-01-05
Publication date: 1951-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 1968-05-01

Description

y 1, 1951 J. KANTOR 2,551,011

SPINNER BRAKE FOR BEVERAGE MIXERS Filed Jan. 5, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NIH IHIIHHH 4 m!" IllllllIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllilllI|Illll|ll1l HI mm un INVENTOR. /q )7: cs Kan 0 May 1, 1951 J. KANTOR 5 L SPINNER BRAKE FOR BEVERAGE MIXERS Filed Jan. 5, 1948 ZSheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

J0me: Kc!

[fog/V45) Patented May 1, 1951 SPINNER BRAKE FOR BEVERAGE MIXERS James Kantor, Chicago, 111., assignor to Liquid Carbonic Corporation, a corporation :of Dela- Wall'e Application January 5, 1948,.SerialiNo. 537

4 Claims.

Heretofore in the art, there have been developed" various types of apparatus for mixing soft drink beverages and particularly carbonated soft drink beverages, while in their individual containers in which they are sold, and such apparatus gen-.

erally comprise what is acceptably known as bottle holders which are adapted to receive and grip the individual container. These bottle holders are generally so mounted that they move in a circular path and at the same time, are adapted to swing from an upright to an inverted position, the bottle holder being provided with means for rapidly rotating the holder and the bottle held thereby on the vertical axis of the bottle, so that the contents of the bottle will be caused to spin with the bottle.

In such machines, the bottles or containers, and hereinafter the containers will be referred to as bottles for the purpose of clarity, are fed into the machine from a traveling conveyor by means of an infeed mechanism and after the contents of the bottle has been suitably agitated, the bottle in its upright position is picked off the holder and again delivered to the traveling conveyor through the medium of an outfeed mechanism.

During the agitation operation, the bottle and its contents are rapidly rotated on the longitudinal axis of the bottle so that as the bottle approaches the outfeed mechanism, it continues to spin. As a result, as the bottle is engaged by the outfeed mechanism, it is rapidly rotating on its longitudinal axis and as a result scoring and scratching of the bottle, as it comes in contact during its spinning movement with the outfeed mechanism, is occasioned.

Furthermore, it is extremely. desirable to suddenly stop the spinning of the bottle so that while the bottle has come to rest, the contents will continue to spin under its own momentum, which spinning movement of the contents effects a wiping action between the inner walls of the bottle and the contents, so that any heavy syrup which may be clinging to the-walls of the bottle is wiped or washed off.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved form of braking mechanism for stopping the rotation of the bottle on its longitudinal axis, before it is picked up by the outfeed mechanism sothat asthe-bot tleis picked up by the outfeed-mechanism, its

2 axial movement has stopped and the rubbing action of the bottle against the outfeed mechanism will be prevented.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means for securely clamping the bottle in the bottle clamp in such a manner that the bottle will freely rotate on its axis, which is in the clamp and at the same time avoid damaging or marring the bottle crown or cap.

For the purpose of disclosing the present invention, an embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the rotating head supporting the bottle holders and of the spinning mechanism for the bottle;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, primarily illustrating the infeed and outfeed dials and associated braking apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a detail elevation, showing the brak-- ing mechanism in sectional view and its associa-- tion with the outfeed dial; and

Fig. 4 is a-detail plan view of the braking star Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of the fire brake and wiper; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the top clamping member for the bottle.

In general, the spinning and inverting mechanism is substantially thesame as is illustrated in the patent granted to me on July 21, 1942, No; 2,290,562, and reference may be had to said patent for the details of construction of said spinning and inverting mechanism, not specifically illustrated and described in the present application.

In general, the spinning and inverting mechanism comprises a rotating turret or platform I on which are mounted a series of bottle holders 2. Each of the bottle holders comprises a rotating cylindrical support 3, which is mounted on a suitable shaft 4 journalled in a bracket 5. This shaft, at its lower end, is provided with a driving wheel 6. roller 1 extending from one side thereof, the purpose of which will be more fully hereinafter described. This bracket is pivotally mounted on a pivotal support 8 carried on the turret I and for maintaining the bottle in position uponthebase 3, I provide a clamp 9 which is adapted to engage the top of the bottle and is supported on a vertically movable rod 10 supported in a sleeve II. This rod is biased in a clamping position by a suitable spring (not shown) and the lower end of the rod carries a roller I2 adapted, during a predetermined portion of the path of movement, to engage a cam l3-stationarily mounted Withre- The bracket is also provided with a 'spect to the path of movement of the bottle holder.

For maintaining the bottle holder in its upright position, in which position the bottle holder is adapted to receive and discharge the bottle, I provide a cam M on which the roller 1 is adapted to ride during a portion of the movement of the bottle holder through its rotating path. After the bottle holder has received the bottle and moved past the infeed position, this cam is so disposed that the bottle holder will swing on its pivot to an inverted position, as illustrated. When the bottle holder swings to its inverted position, the driving wheel 6 engages a rapidly rotating driving disk |5 located beneath the head or turret and as a result of this engagement between the disk i5 and the wheel 6, the bottle holder and its supported bottle are rotated, on the longitudinal axis of the bottle, at a relatively high rate of speed.

As the bottle holder moves to the outfeed position, the cam I4 again picks up the roller I causing the bottle holder to move back to an uprightposition' and at the same time, as the bottle holder moves to its outfeed or discharge position, the cam l3 again engages the roller |2, raising the clamp 9 to permit the bottle to be removed from the support 3.

It is to be noted that, as a result of the high speed spinning movement imparted to the bottle and bottle holder, while in its inverted position, the bottle and its holder will, under their own momentum, continue to spin as the bottle holder and bottle move into an upright position to the outfeed mechanism.

A suitable worktable I6 is disposed adjacent to the mixing structure heretofore described, and arranged tangentially to the line of movement of the bottle holders. A straight line endless conveyor moves across the worktable, this conveyor bringing the bottles or other containers to the machine from a suitable filling machine. A continuously rotating infeed dial I8 is mounted upon the worktable to remove the bottles from the conveyor I1 and position them upon the bottle support or base 3 of the bottle holders 2. An outfeed dial I9 is also provided upon the worktable to remove the successive bottles from the bottle holders and position them upon the opposite end of the conveyor IT for removal from the machine. A guide plate 20 cooperates with the dials |8 and IE to direct the movement of the bottles during their infeed and outfeed.

Due to the fact that the bottle holders and the bottles are still spinning at a relatively high rate at the time they approach the outfeed dial and as a result of this spinning action, when the bottles are engaged by the outfeed dial IQ for removing the same from the bottle holders and delivering them to the conveyor i1, considerable scoring of the bottles takes place and in order to avoid this, I provide a star wheel brake 2| which is adapted to engage the bottle support 3 immediately in advance of its movement to place the bottle in the path of the outfeed dial l9.

For supporting this star wheel 2| and maintaining the same in proper engaging position, a spindle 22 is mounted on the base 23 of the support for the table it. The bracket comprising an upwardly extending arm 26, is pivotally supported on the spindle 22. The outer or free end of this bracket is provided with a vertically extending spindle 25, which receives a hub 23 for the brake wheel 2| Preferably, this brake wheel 2| is formed of a plastic and cork composition,

4 the plastic being slightly resilient and I have found that extremely advantageous results have been obtained by forming the brake wheel 2| of a plastic such as neoprene combined with cork. Such a composition provides an extremely satisfactory braking surface having long wearing qualities and operating satisfactorily, even though oil or moisture collects on the surface thereof. This brake wheel is mounted on a hub 26 and is clamped in position between a stationary flange 21 on the hub and a removable flange 28, suitable clamping screws being adapted to extend through the star wheel. The free end of the arm is resiliently biased in a braking direction through the medium of a coiled spring 29, which spring surrounds a limit rod, 30. One end of this rod is pivotally connected at 3| to the bracket arm 24 and the other end extends through a lug 32 extending upwardly from a bracket extension 33 on the base 23. The free end of the rod 30 is provided with an adjustable nut 34, which provides an adjustable limit stop to prevent the brake wheel from swinging too far towards the path of the bottle holders. This brake wheel 2| is arranged in the same horizontal plane as the bottle supporting base 3 of the holder, so that as the bottle holder moves to deliver the bottle to the outfeed dial l9, the periphery of the brake wheel will engage the periphery of the bottle supporting base 3 and brake the spinning action of the bottle holder and with it, the spinning of the bottle, immediately prior to the release of the bottle clamp 9. Therefore, by the time the bottle is engaged by the outfeed dial l9, its axial spinning movement has been stopped, although the momentum of the contents of the bottle will continue to spin. It is to be noted that the braking star wheel 2| is arranged tangentially to the path of movement of the bottle holder and in advance of the outfeed dial N3 of the apparatus and While the star wheel rotates on the spindle 25 and therefore moves with the bottle and bottle holder, as it advances towards the outfeed dial, the periphery of the star wheel is stationary relative to the axial rotative movement of the bottle and bottle holder.

While the braking wheel 2| provides a satisfactory brake under normal conditions, and while the material neoprene will operate in a satisfactory manner even though oil happens to accumulate on its surface, there are circumstances where the bottle is set to spinning so rapidly, sometimes as high as 2,000 R. P. M., that excessive pressure of the brake wheel is necessary to stop the spinning bottle, and there are occasions where on the base 3 a certain amount of soap or like matter will collect which also renders it necessary, for the wheel 2| to exert excessive pressure on the bottle support to properly brake the same. Therefore in order to render the brake wheel efficient under comparatively light pressures, we provide a prebrake wipe 35. This wipe compresses a flexible finger preferably formed of rubber or even of the same material as the brake 2|. The finger is comparatively wide to engage the surface of the support 3 and is sufliciently thin in cross section to allow it to bend. The prebrake wipe is clamped, at its rear end, between a pair of clamping blocks 36 supported upon a stem 3'! in turn adjustably secured in an ear 38 by a set screw 39. The ear 38 extends from a bracket 40 secured to a suitable part of the machine frame in such position as to project the prebrake wipe in the path of a spinning support 3 immediately prior to its engagement by the brake wheel 2|. As a result, as the spinning support moves in its orbit and approaches the brake 2| it first contacts the prebrake wiper 35 spinning against the face of the wipe. The support 3 rotating in the direction of the arrow engages the front edge of the wiper which scrapes off any soapy material on the surface of the support and at the same time somewhat slows down the spinning of the bottle. This permits the brake wheel to bring the bottle to a full spinning stop with a minimum of pressure on the side of the support.

In order to offer a resistance to the axial rotation of the bottle while it is being spun in its clamp and at the same time avoid marring or damaging the bottle cap while the bottle is in its clamped position the clamping head 9 is so constructed that the bottle clamping member is supported in friction reducing bearings and the clamping member is formed of rubber or like material. To this end the bracket arm 4| is provided with a ring like neck 42 in which is mounted a ball bearing 43, the inner race of which surrounds and rotates with a spindle 44. This spindle is headed to overhang the inner race and has seated in its top a friction reducing ball 45. This ball bears upon a screw 46 in a head 41 threaded into the neck ring 42 and provided with a cover 48, the clamping member 49 has a cone shaped recess in its bottom face to receive the top of the bottle and is preferably formed of Bakelite or some similar plastic. A neck 50 on the clamping member is provided with a recess which receives the end of the spindle and the clamping member is secured to the spindle by a clamping screw 5|. A guide rib 52 projects from the upper face of the clamping member and operates in a groove in the bottom face of the neck ring 42. In order that the bottle caps may not be marred or distorted and in order to provide a firm friction grip on the top of the bottle a rubber insert 53 is secured in the clamping member in position to engage the top of the bottle.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mixing apparatus, in combination, a

container supporting element movable in a fixed path of travel and including a rotatable container gripping means, means for rotating said gripping means on the vertical axis of the container including a driven wheel drivingly associated with said gripping means and moving with said gripping means in its fixed path of travel, a braking member moveable with said driven wheel while the same moves in its path of travel and having a friction surface stationary relatively to the rotating movement of said driven wheel and mov able with said driven wheel while bringing said driven wheel to a stop on its rotating axis, and braking surface continuing to move with the driven wheel in its path of travel after the driven wheel has been brought to a stop and a pre-brake wiper stationarily positioned in the path of travel of said driven wheel in advance of said brake member and frictionly engaging said driven wheel prior to its engagement by said brake member.

2. In a mixing apparatus, in combination, a

' container supporting element movable in a fixed path of travel and including a rotatable container gripping means, means for rotating said gripping means on the vertical axis of the container including a driven wheel drivingly associated with said gripping means and moving with said gripping means in its fixed path of travel, a braking member movable with said driven wheel while the same moves in its path of travel and having a friction surface stationary relatively to the rotating movement of said driven wheel and movable with said driven wheel while bringing said driven wheel to a stop on its rotating axis, said braking surface continuing to move with the driven wheel in its path of travel after the driven wheel has been brought to a stop and a pre-brake wiper stationarily mounted with respect to the path of travel of said gripping means in advance of said braking means comprising a flexible blade projecting into the path of travel of said gripping means and adapted to engage said driven wheel as it moves in its path of travel.

3. In a mixing apparatus, in combination, a container supporting element movable in a fixed path of travel and including a rotatable container gripping means, means for rotating said gripping means on the vertical axis of the container including a driven wheel drivingly associated with said gripping means and moving with said gripping means in its fixed path of travel, a braking member movable with said driven wheel while the same moves in its path of travel and having a friction surface stationary relatively to the rotating movement of said driven wheel and movable with said driven wheel while bringing said driven Wheel to a stop on its rotating axis, said braking surface continuing to move with the driven wheel in its path of travel after the driven wheel has been brought to a stop and a flexible blade having an edge parallel to the axis of rotation of said gripping means and presented in a direction opposed to the direction of rotation of said gripping means and engaging said driven wheel as the same moves in its path of travel.

4. In a mixing apparatus, in combination, a container supporting element movable in a fixed path of travel and including a rotatable container gripping means, means for rotating said gripping means on the vertical axis of the container including a driven wheel drivingly associated with said gripping means and moving with said gripping means in its fixed path of travel, a braking member moveable with said driven wheel while the same moves in its path of travel and having a friction surface stationary relatively to the rotating movement of said driven wheel and movable with said driven wheel while bringing said driven wheel to a stop on its rotating axis, said braking surface continuing to move with the driven wheel in its path of travel after the driven wheel has been brought to a stop, a support stationarily mounted adjacentto the path of travel of said driven wheel, a horizontally disposed supporting member horizontally adjustably mounted on said support, a clamp mounted on the end of said adjustable member and a flexible friction blade carried by said clamp and positioned in the path of travel of said driven wheel and in advance of said braking member.

JAMES KANTOR.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 621,635 Davis Mar. 21, 1899 761,460 Ebken May 31, 1904 1,386,120 Kuenneth Aug. 2, 1 921 1,725,483 Shepperd Aug. 20, 1929 2,086,273 Kantor et al July 6, 1937 2,275,823 Kantor Mar. 10, 1942 2,290,562 Kantor July 21, 1942