US2625311A - Apparatus for filling and emptying containers - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 13, 1953 SIEGAL 2,625,311

APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND EMPTYING CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 17, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet l hula-Q's. J0.

IN VEN TOR.

jib/ 17701? a SZG/QCI/ Jan. 13, 1953 N. A. SIEGAL 2,625,311

APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND EMPTYING CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEA' TOR. A/O/flfdf? d Szgga Patented Jan. 13, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR .FILLING' AND EMPTYIN G CONTAINERS Norman A. Siegal, Chicago, 111., assignor to Irvin Swartzherg, Chicago; Ill.

Application November 17, 1950, Serial No; 196,245

6. Claims. 1;

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for washingwand cleaning contents such as" preserves, pickles, etc. packaged in glass jars or other containers, and more particularly to apparatus adapted to wash foodstufis which are packed within containers preparatory to filling said'containers =with packing liquidssucli as for example brine, vinegar; etc.

A principal object ofmy inventionis to provide apparatus of the type described whichopcrates on acontinuous flow basis at high capacity:

Another object of my invention is the provision of filling and emptying apparatus which is easily adjustable to handle containers of different'sizes.

Yet another object of my-invention is the provision of apparatus of thetype described which canbe constructed to wash the contents of each container a plurality of times, the entire oper-f ation being on a-continuous flow basis.

A further object is the provision of apparatus which occupies but little floor space, and is economical to build and operate.

These and other objects are fully realized by my" invention, which in broad outline comprises a frame and a wheel rotatably mounted-thereon, an endless belt looped over the wheeLsupport means for the: endless :belt which with" the'xwheel providestwo' successive" runs, means for moving containers along with the. belt as the latter moves successively through the said two runs, container liquid. filling means positioned over the first run whereby containers which are moving right side up along said first run may be filled with wash liquid, and a. drain member supporting said containersbeneath the secondrun, whereby the solid contentsof the containers. are prevented from escaping with the discharged rinse liquid as the containers are moved upside downialong said second run. Inpreferred embodiments .of my invention, additional belt support means are provided so that each container is. filled with rinse liquid and emptied at least.

twice. In addition, I prefer that the apparatus be; provided with structureior supporting the weight of the containers both in. the right side up position and the upside down position, and means for adjusting the supporting structure to handle containers of different sizes.

Inorder that my invention may be more fully disclosed, reference is had to. the. accompanying drawings which illustrate one. form of container filling, and emptying. apparatusv embodying, the. foregoing and such other principles, advantages 2 or capabilities as may be-pointed outrasrthis description proceeds. or as are inherent;;in;-..the@ present invention. For purposes of '1 clarity inexposition, the following d-escriptionyis' explicit;

and the accompanying drawings aredetailed but it is distinctly to beunderstooid thatsaidiexposb tion is illustrative only, and that. myrinvention. is

not restricted to the particular-detailszrecited'inthe specification OPShOWIITiD. the drawings:

In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 takentogether: constitutelia side elevaticnal view of theentireapparatus; the

broken line at the right side of Figure. 1a andith'e. broken line at the left side .of Figure Zin'dicating the places where the several parts shown would be joined if the two figures: were consolidated" Like reference characters 1 designate-dike: parts. in the drawings and in the descriptiontofthe.

embodiment shown therein which follows.

Referring now to the drawings, my'inventionv is shown as including a pair ofiuprightsal'll', [0. which are supported by the endfootmembersrl'l; H and the intermediate foot' members: 12, I2.- Container handling apparatuses; which are mire ror images of each other an'd whichfunctioniirr.

an identical fashion can be andspreferablyare mounted on the'uprights I0, |B;.:accordingly.in" the drawings and particularly Figureziithereofg; parts on the upright I0 corresponding,tcnthe. same. par-ts on the upright l0- aresodesignated' by a prime sign.

Referring now more particularly to Fig-Meal and 2, a sump or basin I3 having a" .drainageoutlet I l therein is positioned beneath .the.uprights. Hi and I0. Immediately above th sump .131 on the upright [0 are av plurality of sprocket'wheel's IS with teeth which mesh anv endless linkbeltlfi.

The belt I6 extends from the right hand sprocket. wheel [5 (Figure 2) upwardly andaroundthe sprocket wheel I? to the sprocket wheel I8. The

endless link or chain belt 16 continues beneathv the idler sprocket wheel l9 and. is thereafter looped successively around" the main sprocket wheels 20, 2|, 22 and 23, to form a plurality of flights or runs indicated generally by the numerals 24, 25, 2-6 and 21. After moving over the upper main sprocket wheel 23, the link belt 16 runs over the idler wheel 28 and then extends downwardly at a sharp angle to move under the idler wheel 29, and thence over to and around the drive sprocket wheel 30. The drive sprocket wheel an is mounted on the shaft 3! extending from the gear reduction unit 32 (Figure l.) which is in turn driven by the electric motor 33 through the pulleys 34 and 35 and the interconnecting pulley belts 36, 36.

A railing 31 extends from the sprocket wheel (1 and follows along paralleling the link belt It to the drive sprocket wheel 38. The railing 31 is spaced uniformly from the link belt I5, and is supported by the uprights ill in the manner best shown in Figures 5 and 6. More particularly, a plurality of brackets 38 extend from the upright l and each is adapted to receive one of a plurality of threaded studs 39 which extend from the railing 31. Two lock nuts 48 and 4| are placed each on a difierent side of each of the brackets 38, and provide means for adjusting the railing 31 toward or away from the upright it.

As further shown in Figures and 6, a holder 43 grips each container, which containers are shown in, the drawings as being in the form of wide mouthed bottles 42. A plurality of the holders 43 are secured at spaced intervals along the endless link belt I6, and each is formed from a length of spring steel or similar material to include two bottle engaging segments 4%, as. The segments 44, 44 converge toward each other in the direction of the link belt it, and the two odset end portions 45, 45 are connected together by a helical spring 45. The action of the spring 46 is to place the segments e4, 44 under tension both to grip a bottle 42 and to cam said bottle 42 toward and into engagement with the railing 31. As best shown in Figure 6, the holder 43 is slotted as at 41, to provide clearance for the railing 3?.

The bottles 42 the solid contents of which are to be washed, are introduced into the apparatus at the input conveyor table 48 (Figure 2). A fixed bottom rail 49 is spaced below the lower run 24 of the link belt I5, and is held in place on the brackets 38 extending from the upright It. A perforated supply conduit 50 is positioned above the lower run 24, to fill the bottles 42 with water or other wash liquid as they are moved along the conveyor 49 by the holders 53. The wash liquid which falls to enter the bottles 42 is collected by the sump l3, which drains through the outlet M. A canopy 51 is mounted over the line 55 for a purpose to be described presently.

. As the bottles 42 move toward the sprocket wheel 20 (Figure 1) each is positioned between the arcuate shoe 52 on the one hand and the arcuate guide plate 53 on the other hand. Upon moving approximately 180 degrees around the arcuate shoe 52, the bottles 42 are turned upside down with the open mouth thereof resting against the perforated support rail 54, which is adjustably mounted in place on the brackets 55. Accordingly, as bottles 42 move from the sprocket wheel 20 toward the sprocket wheel 2 I, the wash liquid in each bottle 42 empties therefrom, carrying along with it a substantial portion of the bay leaves, dill twigs or other small solids which are preferably removed from the contents of the bottles 42. As the wash liquid drains from the bottles 42, it is deflected away from the bottles 42 on the lower run 24 by the canopy 5|, and drains into the sump I3.

As the bottles 42 move along the run 25 toward the sprocket wheel 2|, they are positioned between the arcuate shoe 56 concentric therewith, and the arcuate guide plate 51. The shoe 56 and guide plate 51 act to right the bottles 42, so that they are again right side up as they move along the conveyor 66 of the run 26. A second liquid supply conduit 58 is positioned over the run 26 to fill bottles 42 thereon with wash liquid, and it in turn is covered by another canopy 59. The sprocket wheel 22 has concentric therewith an arcuate shoe 60 and an arcuate guide plate 6| which correspond to the shoe 52 and plate 53 at the sprocket wheel 20, and which serve a similar purpose; that is the bottles 42 are turned upside down so that during the succeeding flight the liquid therein is drained out. A perforated support rail 62 adiustably secured to the upright [0 by the bracket 62, prevents the solid contents of the bottles 42 which is larger than the rail perforations from escaping with the wash liquid. Upon moving around the sprocket wheel 23 and on to the conveyor 61, being guided in the process by the arcuate shoe 64 and the arcuate guide plate 65 corresponding to the shoe 56 and plate 5'], the bottles 42 are once again right'side up,

with the contents thereof washed and ready for further processing.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the bottles 42 are conveyed downwardly along the inclined rail 68 and move along the output conveyor 89 beneath a perforated supply pipe 10,

r from which a liquid such as brine is directed into the bottles 42. A catch basin H having a drain outlet 72 therein receives the overflow from the bottles 42 and any other liquid which emanates from the line 10 but fails to enter said bottles 42. The end of the output conveyor 59 may in turn be connected to bottle capping apparatus or other container handling or processing devices. After the bottles 42 are removed from the conveyor 69, the empty holders 43 move along with the link belt i5 over the sprocket wheel I5 and back to the input conveyor table 48 where other bottles 42 are inserted for processing through my apparatus.

Advantageously, my apparatus provides means for quickly and easily adjusting the apparatus to handle bottles or other containers of different sizes. Thus, as in Figure 3 where a bottle 42a of size smaller than the bottles 42 of the other figures of the drawings is to be handled, the shoe Gil (Figure 2) is removed and an arcuate shoe 60a of greater radius is substituted in its place. Next an arcuate guide plate 65a also having a curvature which accommodates the smaller bottle 42a. is substituted for the arcuate plate 65. The upright I0 is provided with a plurality of sets of radially disposed threaded openings 13 at the sprocket wheel 23, and similar sets of radially disposed openings '54 at the sprocket wheel 2!. In this way arcuate guide plates 6'5 and 57 of diiierent sizes may be quickly installed. When different arcuate shoes 60a and guide plates 6511 (Figure 3) are installed, the perforated conveyor 62 is adjusted up or down correspondingly, by means of the adjustable brackets 63. Similar adjustments would of course be made at the sprocket wheels 20 and 21 to accommodate the different sized bottles. Moreover, the holders 43 will grip bottles of different sizes by virtue of the flexible mounting of the bottle engaging segments 44, 44. By adjusting the lock nuts 40 and 4| relative to the threaded studs 39, the railing 31 may be moved toward or away from the holders 43, to compensate for the different sized bottles which are being handled.

While in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the contents of each bottle 42 are washed two times and drained after each washing, obviously the apparatus can be erected so as to provide only a single washing, or if desired more than two washings.

Having thus fully disclosed my novel container filling and emptying apparatus, and demonstrated its utility by reference to a specific embodiment thereof, I claim as my invention:

1. In a container handling apparatus, a chain belt comprised of successive links, brackets secured to intervallic links of said belt, sprocket wheels establishing a course of travel for said belt, a container gripping means mounted on each of said brackets comprising a springable sheet metal channel, inwardly converging extremities of said channel forming a camming action V-portion, a coil spring connecting the ends of said extremities, and a side rail paralleling the course of said chain belt and disposed to engage and confine containers held between said converging extremities in opposition to said camming action V-portions and thereby to grip said containers between them yieldably.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said springable sheet metal channel is divided by an intermediate slot into two collateral sections and in which said side rail is adapted to align with and extend partially into said slot spacing.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said side rail carries a plurality of horizontally extended threaded mounting studs, and supports carried by said apparatus having apertured upstanding portions for receiving said studs in combination in check nut means for adjustably varying the lateral disposition of said side rails thereby.

4. A conveyor apparatus for handling widemouth jars and similar containers comprising, a perpendicularly extending upright framework, a plurality of journal studs extending horizontally from said framework, variously spaced conveyor chain sprockets journaled on said studs, a conveyor belt chain meshing with the teeth of said sprockets to provide a multiplicity of zig-zag flights thereby, mount brackets secured to intervallic links of said belt chain, container gripping means mounted on each of said brackets comprising a, channel shaped member formed of springable sheet metal and having inwardly bent converging extremities, a coil spring affording supplementary spring tension to said means by joining said converging extremities, and a rail member paralleling the course of said belt chain and disposed to align with said container gripping means for the purpose of confining them thereby between the springable eifects of said converging extremities and said rail for alternately disposing said containers in erect and inverted positions as the course of said zig-zag flights causing said gripping means to be correspondingly reversed in their relative position.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4, including a perforated supporting rail paralleling a, portion of said belt chain course in which said containers are held in inverted position for permitting the draining of liquid content from said containers whilst retaining the solids content thereof.

6. In a container handling apparatus, a chain belt and sprockets describing a zig-zag course, brackets secured to intervallic links of said belt, a container gripping means mounted on each of said brackets comprising a springable channel member having inwardly converging extremities which form a camming action V clamp, and a side rail paralleling the course of said chain belt and disposed to engage and confine containers between said V-portions by following the path described by said clamps as said chain belt pursues its zig-zag course.

NORMAN A. SIEGAL.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 807,687 Schirmer Dec. 19, 1905 813,012 Loew Feb. 20, 1906 1,652,277 Herold Dec. 13, 1927 1,761,450 McKechnie June 3, 1930 1,775,003 Soelch Sept. 2, 1930 2,404,460 Rolker July 23, 1946

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