US2621667A

US2621667A - Container washing apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2621667A
Application number: US708488A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry D Lathrop
Original assignee: Lathrop Paulson Co
Current assignee: Lathrop Paulson Co
Priority date: 1946-11-08
Filing date: 1946-11-08
Publication date: 1952-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 1969-12-16

Description

Dec. 16; 1952 LATHROP 2,621,667

CONTAINER WASHING APPARATQS Filed Nov. 8, 1946 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 qhicago, 111., assignor to The.

f p ompany, Chicago, 111., a. cor- Th sime a arat s v ntipgisne fame tothe wa hing ofthe exter of mill; cans a n'd'otlier types l 5biet0f51ih rive, ,jqnis a rat'uslfor effectively Washingcans or other, .c.ontainers in a minimum of time and without re q' sl 't p a of mean as, i g l a t ed. 99% a conveyor. Yet an ther object is. toprovid improved-apparatus for Washing the bottom and outer'fwalls of. acan or. other container. Yetan other. obj act is to provide. means l' automatically operated by a can for.v delivering wa'shfluidand for moving the stream of washing fluid'with the can duringits movement, 3 9 182. conveyortrack. Otherspeci'fic objectsand advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

' The invention is. illustrated, in a preierred em-. bo im t, by he. accompan ing dr wi g. n which;

Figure 1 is a broken side view in elevation. of a portion of a can washing machine equipped with conveyor apparatus; Fig. 2, a broken View, howin th u pa us ppe with washin mechanism embodying my inventionili'ig. 3, a top plan view of theapparatus showninFig, 2; Fig, 4, a perspective view of the valve control mechanism; and Fig. 5, across-sectional viewof theconveyor track, taken. on line 5+5. of Fig. 3.

In the illustration giveninv Figs, 1 to, 5 inc1usivg l designates a framejprovidedatits top with'side rails I 1 within which is acan-supporting track including parallel rails I2, as seen. more clearly in Figs. 3 and 5. An endless conveyor l3, equipped with spaced .dogs ltd, is carried by the conveyorchain I31) within channel. member I 30 for moving a can I4 upon the tracks.

Ihe numeral l5 designates a can-inverting craleshaft carrying thevcradles' l6 adapted toreve'rse'the position of a. can which has passed through the machine, with the, neck downmost to'theposition illustrated in Fig 1. Cradle shaft I5 is rotated through sprocket. 51 by chain 58 which in turn is driven'by suitablemeans (not shown) Since no claimismade to the can-in,

verting mechanism as .part of. the present invention,' it, isv believed it will notbe necessary to fu're ther disquss. the .detailsthereot.

The; mach e is e uippe i h nivotellypuht sle ms a a d i ce v m mes lth'e c It nd Ito o er h sems n o; e track below. The arms I 1 are provided witha QP' i flW '8 j ahelt heid lwewersle mqv ment 0 t enl4 endsa e t ies eeis ttlr etai s rees- 1 Asshown more clearly. inEigs. 2 and-3,1 pro vide mechanism fon'the-washing of' the cantasit moves forward along. the track and for moving thewashing mechanism at the same time and in the same direction. In the illustration given; I provide a hollow pipe [9. providing a manifold therein which isv mounted fonrotation andwhich is, equipped; with an. upwardly-extending drive arm 26. Connectedtothedrivearmis a connector rod 2| and a tube 22.receiving-a-springlm The springis supported upon a rod ll'fixedto. the slide bar 25,. The slide bar. 25 is guided between rollers 26 and .is provided at its inner endwith a cam roller 2:]. The roller: engages acam- 28 mounted on the drive shaft-29'. Upon rotation of the cam 28, the

members

25', 24, 22 and-Hare reciprocated, thereby producing a rocking otthe pipev I9.

The tube i 9 is provided with a pair ofupwardlyextending pipes. 38, each having spray openings in thetop portion thereof. The pipe-lilisalso provided with two. upwardly-extending pipes 3| equipped at their tops .With a horizontally-extending tube. 32 providing an elongated spray head. The tubes 32 are closed at their outer ends but provided Withspacedopenings 33 on thei-r innersides so as to direct alspray of liquid in wardly toward the cam.

The driveshaftZQ carries a second'cammember 34 which drives a roller-equippedmember-35 fixed to the end of rod 5llwhichextends through a spring 36 and slides withinthe-other end= -of-* rod 55, The tube 31, as shownbestinFig. 4; is provided with, a rotatablyemounted sleeve memat a low position and below the adjacent-valve plunger 43 which controls thevalve-M. The ele ments 35 throu h 42;an,d :49 aresupported on: frame lilby rods 55;and 56'which'areweldedto tube 31, as shownmore clearly in Fig. 2';

At be 4 le ds, from. the valve 44m a pipe entering thetube 19;, as :shown: best inflfiigr 3;

A fluid supply line is indicated in Fig. 3. at 41' andleads from any suitable source of supply.

Power may be supplied to the drive shaft 29 by-- any suitable means (I 01? shown), and transmitted through sprocket 4B fixed to-shaft29 toconveyon chain I312.

The rod 42; extends; upwardly .to the level of' the uid track; qthat when the can. His-deposited arm l l one ot. thearms engages rod-42' and depresses it to bring the wear pin 40 into alignment with the valve plunger 43. The relationship between the upper end of rod 42 and the arm l1 thereabove is indicated more clearly in Fig. 5. Preferably, a sleeve 49 is attached to the adjacent rail l2 to receive and guide rod 42, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5-.

Pins 5| and 52 are respectively fixed to

rods

24 and 50 and slide within slots 53 and 54 in the tops of tubes 22 and 31. Normally, pins 5| and 53 remain in the position shown in Fig. 3 under the action of

springs

23 and 36, but in case of jamming of the mechanism they permit rollers 21 and 35 to disengage from

cams

28 and 34.

Operation In the operation of the device, the can l4 on reaching the cradle is inverted, as illustrated in Fig. 1, so that the bottom of the can comes to rest upon the tracks I2 between the side rails l I. In the downward movement of the can I4, the weighted arms ll ease the can gently upon the track and the conveyor dogs Isa engage the can and carry it forwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 1. As the can drops to the position here shown, the arm l1 above rod 42 engages the rod 42 and depresses it. This movement raises the arm 39 to bring the Wear pin thereof into alignment with the plunger 43 of the valve 44. Meanwhile, shaft 29 is in continuous operation, and the cam 34 is reciprocating the member 37 forwardly and backwardly. When the arm 39 is raised, the pin 49 is brought into engagement with the plunger 43 and the valve is opened. Water or other washing fluid now passes from the supply line 4! through valve 44, hose 45, and into the manifold pipe It. At the same time, the cam 28 is being rotated to reciprocate the members 22 and 2| and thereby rock the pipe iii.

The timing of the cams illustrated is such that the pipes 38 and 3| are in rear position when the can is deposited and move forwardly with the can as it is carried along the conveyor. This position is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 with pipes 3| inclined toward the left. It will be understood that members 30 and SI may move pari passu with the can M or they may move slightly faster or at a slightly less speed. I prefer to have the members 31 and 30 start at about the rear of the can so as to throw a spray thereon and to slightly exceed the speed of the conveyor so that they spray the front of the can in the final washing action. The final position of pipes 32 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 with pipes 3| inclined toward the right. If desired, the operation may be reversed with respect to the relative speed of the can and the washing spray members. However, I prefer to have the members move somewhat in unison with the can so that the washing action is continuing during the travel of the can. Thus, no time is lost in the washing step while at the same time a thorough washing of the outer surface and bottom of the canis accomplished by reason of the traveling washing devices. In the illustration given, can It remains in contact with arms l1, and thus continues to depress rod 42 until the swing of pipes 39 and spray heads 3| is completed from left to right as indicated in Fig. 2.

The washing step is particularly effective for the exterior of the can and after it has been through the washing machine where the interior thereof has been cleansed and sterilized, because with theoperation described the water striking the exterior of the can does not splash into the '4 can but washes downwardly along the sides and over the bottom thereof.

While in the foregoing specification, I have described one embodiment of the machine in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for washing the exterior surfaces of cylindrical containers such as milk cans, the combination comprising a conveyor for moving said containers along a generally horizontal path with the cylindrical surfaces of said containers substantially perpendicular to said path, a pipe providing a manifold rockably mounted below said path and extending transversely thereof, a spray pipe carried by said manifold on each side of said path and extending upwardly to the level of said containers, an elongated spray head carried by each of said spray pipes and extending at approximately right angles thereto adjacent said containers so that when said spray pipes are vertical said spray heads are horizontal, said spray heads having a plurality of longitudinally extending apertures therein oriented to direct streams of liquid on said containers, said spray pipes normally being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of saidcontainers, and means for rocking said manifold pipe from said normal position in the direction of movement of said containers at an angular velocity great enough to cause said spray heads to traverse arcuate paths from the rear to the front of said containers as they are moved over said manifold-providing pipe by said conveyor, whereby substantially all of the cylindrical surfaces of said containers opposite said spray heads can be effectively washed by said spray heads.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said rockably mounted, manifold-providing pipe is also equipped intermediate said spray pipes on each side of said path with at least one additional spray pipe extending upwardly from said rockably mounted pipe in alignment with said spray pipes on each side of said path but terminating below said path in a spray head provided with apertures adapted to direct the streams of water upwardly against the bottom of said containers.

3. In an apparatus for washing the exterior surfaces of cylindrical containers, the combination comprising a conveyor for moving said container along a generally horizontal path with the cylindrical surfaces of said containers substantially perpendicular to said path, a manifold pipe rockably mounted below said path and extending transversely thereof, a spray pipe carried by said manifold pipe on each side of said path and extending upwardly to the level of said containers, laterally'extending spray heads carried by said spray pipes adjacent said containers so that the inclination of said spray heads with re spect to said containers varies as said spray pipes and spray heads are moved through arcuate paths, said spray pipes normally being inclined in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of said containers, and means for rocking said manifold pipe from said normal position in the direction of movement of said containers at an angular velocity great enough to cause said laterally extending spray heads to traverse arcuate paths from the rear to the front of said containers as they are moved over said manifold pipe by said conveyor, whereby substantially all of the cylindrical surfaces of said containers opposite said spray heads can be effectively washed by said spray heads.

HARRY D. LATHROP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Taylor July 15, 1919 Miller Aug. 28, 1923 Simonsson Sept. 27, 1932 Gruetter Apr. 18, 1933 McClatchie June 13, 1933 Taylor July 25, 1933 Williams Nov. 17, 1936 Herold Nov. 25, 1941 Alling et a1 Apr. 24, 1945 Cook Mar. 6, 1951