US2647672A - Cap applying apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1953 M. BURNELL 2,647,672

CAP APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 11, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor MlLo BURNELL Mia'vw Attorneys Patented Aug. 4, 1953 Milo Burnell,

Cork Specialty Decatur, Ill.,

Corporation, Decatur, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application February 11, 1946, Serial No. 646,840

6 Claims. (Cl. 226-81) The present invention relates to cap applying apparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for placing a cap in a desired position with respect to the circumference of a container.

The invention is particularly useful in applying caps similar to those disclosed in Williams Patent No. 1,743,945, issued January 14, 1930, and Williams Patent No. 1,214,734,1ssuedFebruary 6, 1917.

A cap of the type disclosed in the two abovementioned Williams patents includes a top sealing gasket, and a skirt which is contractable by downward movement of a pivoted locking lever to enable the cap to be firmly clamped upon a container mouth. Before such a cap is applied to a container, the locking lever is in upward or non-locking position. After the cap has been loosely applied to the container, it is forced straight down upon the container to bring `the gasket into sealing relation vwith the container mouth. Then the locking lever is swung downwardly and outwardly through substantially 180 so that it will extend downwardly from the cap. One type of apparatus for applying such caps, forcing them to sealed position, and then moving the locking levers to locked position is disclosed in Mair Patents Nos. 2,351,348 and 2,351,349, both issued June 13, 194 T When caps of the above-mentioned structure are applied to bottles which are not circular in horizontal section, for example, bottles which are substantially flat on two sides, as is the case with bottles which are elliptical in cross-section, it is desirable to have the locking lever lie along a vertical line which intersects a flat wall of the bottle. Having the locking lever positioned at this point enables it to be more readily operated by the capping machine and the subsequent consumer. In any event, the positioning of the locking lever at a uniform point on each container handled greatly improves the appearance of la group of the sealed bottles or other containers.

It is usually desirable to move a bottle including two substantially I'lat sides through a capping machine with the flat walls extending parallel to the line of movement of the bottle so that the greatest width of the bottle will thereby coincide with its direction of movement, In this way, the possibilities of the bottle falling forward or backward are minimized. However, if at sided bottles move along a conveyor in this manner and if the locking lever of each cap is to extend down toward a flat side of the bottle, it has heretofore been necessary to supply the caps to the bottles from a ca p chute in which each cap has its lockassignor to Crown ing lever at one side of the chute. By this prior practice, the cap was removed from the cap chute with the locking lever already aligned with the desired ilat side of the bottle.

One important difliculty with the cap feeding system described in the preceding paragraph was that when the locking levers were positioned at one side of the chute, the caps jammed in the chute. This is largely due to the fact that with the weight of the locking levers at one side of the chute, the lower rims of adjacent caps would overlap in the chute.

Generally speaking, the present invention obviates this cap feeding diiculty by moving the caps downwardly in the chute with their locking levers at the trailing or uppermost portion of the cap and then placing the locking levers in the proper position on the bottle by rotating each cap with respect to the bottle. With the cap locking lever thereby lying along a line interseating a i'lat side of the bottle, the cap is then forced downwardly to sealed position and locked.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for placing a cap in a desired position circumferentially of a container.

A further important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for placing a cap in a desired position circumferentially with respect to a container, and which apparatus is extremely simple, particularly in that it requires no powerdriven or automatically actuated parts.

It has heretofore been usual to rotate a screw cap to a sealed position upon a container. However, the mechanisms used for this purpose are not designed to position the cap at any particular point circumferentially of a container. In addition, when a threaded cap is rotated circumferentially of a container, it is also moved axially of the container.

Other objects and advantages of the invention are disclosed in the following specication and accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a cap applying and sealing apparatus including the mechanism of the present invention, portions being broken away.

Figure 2 is a top view of the structure shown in Figure 1, with the cap turning element in cap receiving position. T

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 1 and with a portion the cap rotating mechanism turned approximately 60 from the position shown in Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a top view of the Figure 1 structure broken away to show but with the cap rotating element in the position of Figure 3.

The drawings illustrate a cap applying and sealing apparatus for caps C provided with locklng levers L, the apparatus being similar to that disclosed in the above-mentioned Mair patents but with the cap turning mechanism of the present invention interposed between the cap f applying chute and the sealing head' of thefpatent structures.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral I3 desigfnates an endless infeed conveyor towmove an uninterrupted line of bottles or other containers II including substantially flat 4sides Ila beneath a cap applying chute I2. gage the forward portion of the skirt of the lowermost cap C and the cap will drop to a horizontal position upon the bottle mouth. The bottle will then carry the cap through a cap Vturning element I3 which will rotate the cap as hereinafter described. While the `cap is-still engaged by the element I3 the bottle will move. on. to a.` stationary plate. I4 having its upper surface ush with the upper run of the conveyor I3. When the bottle is positioned on the plate -III it will be pushed beneath the sealinghead I5.by the next succeeding bottle and the line of..con tacting bottles on the conveyor L0. As the bottle moves beneath the sealing head I5,-its neck will strike a trip I3 which operatesthe ,sealing i head I5. as described in the said Mair patents to cause the head to descend, thereby movingthecap downwardly to sealed position upon. the .container. A shoe Il forming. a part of vthesealing head I5 descends immediately thereafterto move. the locking lever L of the cap from the upstand.- ing position illustrated in Figurev 3 so that the locking lever will extend downwardly from Athe cap. Aterthe sealingandv locking elements have raisedthrough the actuation of controls described in said Mair patents, the succeeding bottles will push the sealed bottle onto the outfeed conveyor I8 whichwill -carry'it from the apparatus.

The cap chute-I2 is of generally inverted U- shaped form in thatI .it includes a bottom wallv and ltwo upstanding side walls 2I. Each. side wall 2l includes an inwardly extending flange 22. at its upper end, the inner and opposededges of the top flanges. 22 thereby defining a slot y2 3. between them. An attendant type shown in said per end of the chute tending upwardly as in unlockedposition,

Williams patents in the y up- I2 with the locking levers exillustrated in Figure 1, i. e.,

and `with `the locking -lever atthe trailing or uppermost side of-the -cap C.- r

The slot 23; is of suicient width to enable. the locking levers to moveY freelyv along the same, but prevents the caps from rotatingy about their own axes in the chute I2. With the lockinglevers positioned in this manner, the caps cannot` become overlapped because the lockingvleversare, in effect, interposedbetween the successive caps. Hence, the caps cannot become jammedi-n the chute. As is diagrammatically. shown 1in` Figures 2 and 3, a gate or provided adjacent the lower end of the chuteI .I2 to. normally hold the lowermost cap in theposition villustrated in Figure 1.

The cap turning mechanism includes a plate secured to blocks such .as 3l which, inl-turn, are iixed to a, rail 32 extending above the con.- veyors I0 and I2. A second and smallerplate 33 is. positioned in the same plane as .the plate 30, plate 33 being supported upon a rail 34 `suitably supported above the conveyors. Betel-ring A bottle iIfwill ,en-e

willplace caps ofthe .damper element 2lil is.y

`vexly arcuate at "33 is'xedin an aperture in 'capping to Figure 2, it will be observed that the opposed edges 32a, and 34a. of the rails 32 and 34 serve to guide the bottles and prevent them from rotating. As is also shown in Figure 2, the two plates 30 and 33 have their opposed edges 35 and 36 aligned with the edges of the slot 23 of the cap applying chute I2 so that, in eiect, they formva straight slot 31which'is a horizontal prolongation-of the chute slot 23. However, as indicated at 38, the edge 35 of plate 33 is cona point intermediate its length, this arcuate portion being concentric with the axis of an'upstanding stud 39 xed to the rail 32. The second plate 33 is of less length than -plate ,30.and its outfeed end is arcuately concave .to conform to the portion 38 of plate 33. Figures l and 2, the stud the rail 32 of the .apparatus and extends upwardly through the rail and plate 33. Between rail 32 andplate 30, the stud 33 has the circular and disc-,like .cap turning .element I3 rotatable thereon. Aspringi! surrounds the stud 33, the lower end of thespring bearing on a washer le mounted on..disc I3 and rotatable in an aperture in the plate-30. The upper end of spring 43 contacts with ,a cap nut 45 `threaded to the upper end of the stud. The tension exerted by spring 43 upon the disc I3 is insufficient to prevent the disc being. turned bythe movement yof containers as hereinafter described. However,v the spring preventsthe disc from over-traveling with a container.

Th disc I3 is provided with a plurality of radially extending and equidistantly spaced recesses designated I3a, I3b and I3c. While the recesses are substantially U-shaped in plan, their walls are vertically straight and parallel with the axis of the disc. However, as best shown in Figure 3; a narrow ledge 50 extends about the lower edge of the walls of each recess. This ledge is adapted to loosely engage a shoulder s on each bottle. Above the ledge 5U, the opposite walls 5I and 52 of each recess are so spaced that they will accommodate but closely engage the greatest diameterof a cap C, which is usually at the lower portion of the cap. Atthis portion of the cap, upwardly bent and spaced tongues t (Figure 3) partially enclose the locking wire which there' encirclesl the cap and the edges of these tongues provide serrations which will be frictionally engaged by the recess walls above the ledge 5U.

The inner and curved wallportion 53 of each disc recess is curved on a radius closely corresponding to that of the greatest diameter of the cap. 'The portion of the ledge 50 extending about the curved portion is curved on a radius very slightly' larger than the radius of the bottle shoulders. vAs is illustrated in Figure 4, the radial depth of. each recess is such that a cap may. lie. entirely within it. The disc is of such vertical depth that the plateY 30 willbe slightly spacedabove. the `caps C moving withthe disc. Also,.thediameterofdisc I3 is such that its peripherycontorms to the concavely curved outlet edgeportionoffplate 33. The conveXly curved portionf38 of plate 30 is spaced inwardly of the discperiphery so that a locking lever L of the cap may ireelyfmove between the opposed edges of. ythe plates 305 and 33 and without contacting with such. edges.

The-sealinghead -I5 may be similarto that disclosed` in said Mair patents andv will include a As is best shown in -iockinglever-operating element I1. The. head I5 DOSeS.

stationary and container supporting plate I4 so` that it can seal containers while the latter are on plate I4. Rail 34 will be notched to clear downward'movement of head I5 andelement Il.

In the operation of the above described apparatus and mechanism, bottles or other containers II are placed upon the infeed conveyor III with the iiat sides I Ia of the bottles parallel with their line of movement as indicated by the dot and dash lines of Figure 2. 'I'he bottles will normally be placed upon the conveyor with their narrower surfaces in contact. The edges 32a and 34a of the rails 32 and 34 will engage the necks of the bottles to hold them in a straight line and p'revent them from turning. If necessary, other and lower rails may also be provided for these pur- When a bottle reaches the position illustrated in solid lines in Figure 1, it will withdraw the lowermost cap C from the chute against the restraining action of the gate or damper 24 so that the cap will fall to a horizontal but loose position on the mouth of the bottle. The pressure of the succeeding bottles moving with the conveyor I Il will cause the bottle and cap to move beneath the plates 30 and 33, with the locking lever L of the cap extending upwardly through the slot 31 as shown in Figure 2. At this time, a recess of the disc I3, for example, the recess I 3a, will be at the position illustrated in Figure 2. I In this position, the leading side wall 5I of the recess will lie across the outfeed end of the straight portion of slot 31.

With bottle II and cap C in the position illustrated in Figure 2, and with the disc I3 positioned as there shown, the continued forward movement of the container in a straight line will cause the cap C to exert pressure upon the leading edge 5I of the recess I3 to thereby rotate the disc I3 in a counter-clockwise position as viewed in Figure 2. However, the frictional engagement between the wire-encircled portion of the cap C` and the surfaces of the recess I 3a will cause the loose cap C to rotate relatively to the bottle mouth in a counter-clockwise direction, while the cap moves linearly from the Figure 2 position to that of Figure 4. The curvature at the outfeed end of the slot 31 concentric with the axis of stud 39 permits this rotation of the cap in that it provides a path for the swinging movement of the locking lever L.

By the time that the bottle has reached the position illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the cap will have rotated 90 upon the bottle, even though the disc I3 has only rotated 60 during its movement from the Figure 2 position to that of Figure 4. The fact that the cap rotates bodily about its own axis to a greater extent than the disc I3 rotates about stud 39 is due to the frictional effeet of the disc I3 upon the cap C', in combination with the forward or linear movement of the cap with the bottle.

After the cap and bottle have reached the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, and although the bottle and cap will then still act upon the disc I3 to carry it around to the position occupied by the recess I3c in Figure 2, nevertheless, the cap will no longer rotate upon the bottle because at that time the bottle will be moving away from the disc. Should the cap tend to turn further at this time, its locking lever will engage the straight edge 30a of plate 30, so that further rotation of the cap will be prevented. As a result, the locking lever and cap will remain in the position illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, i. e., with the locking lever L extending downwardly along a line intersecting the flat side IIa-of the bottle.

Because the cap and bottle leaving disc I3 will move recess I 3a to the position occupied by recess I3c in Figure 2, recess I3b will be in a position to engage the cap of the next bottle.

The continued pressure of the succeeding containers upon the container II will thereafter move it beneath the sealing head I5 when its mouth portion will contact with the trip I6 to cause the capping head to descend as described in said Mair patents to bring the usual top gasket or sealing disc of the bottle into engagement'with the lipof the bottle so that it will be substantially sealed upon the bottle. Immediately thereafter, the shoe I'I will move downwardly to engage the upstanding locking lever lL and move it downwardly to a locking position as is also described in the Mair patents. This will cause the cap locking wire to contract ther seal the cap to the container. After the capping head I5 and shoe I1 have lifted, the bottle will be pushed on to outfeed conveyor I8.

It will be observed that the type of caps mentioned herein, i. e., caps of the type shown in said Williams Patents Nos. 1,743,945, and 1,214,- 734 may be considered as slip-type caps in that they are moved to container sealing position by The invention other types of caps of the slip type and which can be frictionally engaged by an element such as the element I3.

The terminology used in the speciication is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, the scope of the invention being indicated in the claims.

I claim:

closure device in closing relation upon a container device which is positioned in said path, and means to then rotate one of said devices a predetermined extent with respect to the other and without varying their relative position lengthwise of the container device axis so that they will be in a predetermined circumferential alignment.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, means to move a container device along a predetermined path, a closure device applying means above said container device moving means to position a slip-type closure device in closing relation upon a container device positioned in said path, means to then rotate one of said devices a predetermined extent with respect to the other will be in a predetermined circumthat they will be in sealing relation.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a straight line conveyor to move containers having caps loosely applied thereto, a horizontally arranged disc element rotatable about a vertical axis which is positioned laterally of the path of containers with said conveyor, said disc including a recess adapted to laterally engage a cap so that movement of the cap with a container will rotate said disc about its axis and the engageand thereby lock and furment of` the` recess .andcap will rotate the latter with, respect tothe container.

4.Ansapparatus'of the-'character described in claim 3 wherein 4the discis rotatable through 360 about its vaxisandincludesa plurality of recesses adapted to-engage lcapson successive containers. 5. In -an apparatus fof the class described, means to move a container along a'predeter'mined path, an inclined cap chute'positioned above said path and arranged to support a cap'in position forzremoval by a container moving beneath the chute, avhorizontally'arranged disc element-provided with a pluralityiof peripheral recesses each conforming to the diameter of the vcaps applied by-said chute-,said disc normally being positioned so thatanadvancing cap Will-engage and be encircled by a recess in said disc and being rotatable by the advancing containers to thereby frictionallyv engage the caps to rotate them with re'- spect vto the containers.

f 6,.,In an apparatus of the class described, a straight line conveyorto move containers having caps loosely applied thereto, an element rotatable about-afvertical axis which is positioned laterally of thepath of containers With said conveyor, said lelement including means adapted to laterally engage a cap so that movement of the cap with a container Will-turn said element about its axis and th'e engagement of the recess and cap will rotate the'latt'er with' respect to the container.

MILO BURNELL.

References cited in the nie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 904,879 Kirkegaard Nov. 24, 1908 `1,214,734 Williams Feb. 6, 1917 1,311,392 Hey Aug. 5, 1919 1,332,279 Williams et al Mar. 2, 1920 1,470,343 Clark oct. 9, 1923 1,669,726 Seale May 15, 1928 1,743,945 Williams Jan. 14, 1930 Y1,767,818 Smul'ski June 24, 1930 1,912,677 v'Williams June 6, 1933 1,949,960 Franzen et al Mar. 6, 1934 V2,094,256 Jonsson Sept. 28, 1937 2,349,256 Kittress May 23, 1944 2,351,348 Mair June 13, 1944 2.351.349 Mair June 13. 1944

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