US2725169A

US2725169A - Filling machine

Info

Publication number: US2725169A
Application number: US332259A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph T Stigler
Original assignee: Pfaudler Co Inc
Current assignee: Pfaudler Inc
Priority date: 1953-01-21
Filing date: 1953-01-21
Publication date: 1955-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 1972-11-29

Description

Nov. 29, 1955 J. T. STIGLER FILLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 21, 1953 IN VEN TOR. JOSEPH 7. ST/GLER ATTORNEY Nov. 29, 1955 .1. T. STIGLER 2,725,169

FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 21, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR. JOSEPH 7. ST/GLER A1444 OK arm/run Nov. 29, 1955 J. T. STIGLER FILLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 21, 1953 IN V EN TOR. JOSEPH 7.' ST/GLER ATTORNEY Nov. 29, 1955 J T. STIGLER FILLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 21, 1953 ]N VEN TOR. JOSEPH T. ST/GLEI? J Lu;

ATTORNEY United States Patent FILLING MACHINE Joseph T. Stigler, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to The Pfaudler Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 21, 1953, Serial No. 332,259

9 Claims. (Cl. 226-97) My invention relates to a machine for filling cans, glass jars or other containers with various products.

The machine of my invention is suitable for filling containers with free flowing liquids such as tomato juice, brine, wines, soups, fruit juices, oil and the like or semiflowable materials such as applesauce, thick soups and baby foods which are usually finely divided or pulpous vegetable products with just sufficient liquid torender them sluggishly flowable.

Reference is made to copending application of Everett S. Minard, Serial No. 147,218 filed March 2, 1950, entitled Filling Machine, now Patent No. 2,666,564, dated January 19, 1954. Certain features of that machine are common to the machine of the present invention and reference may be had to said application for details of construction.

An object of my invention is to provide a simplified inexpensive machine for filling containers with an accurate measured volume and hence weight of flowable or semi-fiowable materials.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby a part of the rotating assembly, particularly the reservoir for the material to be filled into containers and the cylinders together with their pistons and valves, may be raised and lowered as a unit with respect to the container table upon which containers are moved during the operation of the machine to enable adaption of the machine for filling containers of different heights.

My invention further contemplates a filling machine of the general type shown in the above mentioned copending application wherein the size, weight and cost of the machine is materially reduced to bring its price within the reach of small canners of food or other products and yet provide a machine in which the spacing of the containers as they leave the machine may be varied and be made to conform to the spacing required by cansealing machines which perform their operation subsequent to the filling machine'of my invention, the container spacing means including mechanism for varying the speed of movement of the containers while they are in the machine and moving over the annular can table.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be particularly set forth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine partly in section and showing in detail the driving mechanism for the machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the upper part of the machine and illustrating in particular the means for raising and lowering the reservoir and the filling cylinders together with their associated pistons and valves with respect to the container table to accommodate containers of different heights;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 except that a part 2,725,169 Patented Nov. 29, 1955 "ice of the container guide has been removed to show the cam which lies below the container guide and actuates the container propelling fingers, the actuating means for the fingers being shown in dotted lines; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the container fingers together with the actuating means therefor.

Referring to Fig. 3, the machine of my invention is circular in plan with the product being conveyed in any suitable preferably continuous manner (not shown) to a tank 11 which constitutes the reservoir from which the product is withdrawn for discharge into cans, glass jars or other containers to be filled.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a drive shaft 12 may be directly connected to a suitable driving motor (not shown) or may be driven from any other suitable source of power. The drive shaft enters a casing 13, the shaft being journaled in suitable bearings 14 mounted in the side walls of the casing as shown in the drawings.

The casing 13 also constitutes the main frame of the machine and is a relatively heavy casting supported upon legs 16 the height of which is adjustable. The casing is provided with a removable cover plate 17 which upon removal enables access to the mechanism located in the casing 13.

A bevel gear 18 located within the casing 13, is mounted on the shaft 12 and rigidly keyed thereto as shown at 19. The bevel gear 18 drives a bevel gear 21 Which is formed integral with a spur gear 22. The combined bevel and spur gear 22 is supported on and keyed at 24 to a vertically extending shaft 23 as shown at 24. The shaft 23 extends upward concentric with a pedestal support 26 rigidly secured to the top wall of the casing 13 as shown at 27. Adjacent the upper end of the shaft 23 a bearing collar 28 is provided which rests upon the upper end of the pedestal support 26.

' The spur gear 22 drives a spur gear 29 fixed by a key 31 to a rotatable sleeve 32. The casing 13 is provided with outwardly extending bosses 33 in which suitable sleeve bearings 34 are mounted for rotatably supporting the sleeve 32. The lower boss 33 has a removable cap 36 which together with the lower end ofthe boss provides a housing 37 for the reception of a lower support bearing 38. The lower end of the rotatable sleeve 32 is supported by a threaded member 39 which has a shoulder 41, the upper surface of which bears against the rotatable sleeve 32 and the lower surface of which seats upon the housing of the bearing 38.

The projecting end of the threaded member 39 has a hand wheel 43 keyed thereto as shown at 44. A nonrotatable shaft or support rod 46 is threaded internally of the threaded member 39 and extends upwardconcentrio with the rotatable sleeve 32. The upper end of the support rod has a shoulder 47, the purpose of which will later appear. A bearing sleeve 48 supports the upper end of the support rod 46. An elongated key 49 is rigidly secured to the rotatable sleeve 32 as indicated at 51.

It will now be apparent that by rotating the hand wheel 43, the position of the threaded member 39 and the rotatable sleeve 32 so as to project the support rod so that the shoulder 47 lies well above the upper end of the rotatable sleeve 32.

Referring now to Fig. 2, a support plate 52 is mounted on the shoulder 47 of the support rod 46 and includes a downwardly extending tubular part 53 which has a keyway adapted to mate with the elongated key 49 of the rotatable sleeve 32. The support plate 52 is rigidly connected by bolts to a casting 54 which constitutes the well of the reservoir 11, the cylindrical part of the reservoir being rigidly secured to the well 54. A casting 56 rigid with the depending portion.53 of the plate 52 rotates therewith, the lower end of the casting being 3 seated upon and rotatable with respect to the upper boss 33 of the casing 13.

Rigidly secured to the upper boss 33 is a casting 58 which has a plurality of arms 5) which extend outwardly and upwardly and support a cam ring 61, the function of which will later appear.

An annular platform 62 (Fig. 2) extends in surrounding relation to the reservoir and is supported therefrom by castings 63 which are rigidly secured to the platform and the side wall of the reservoir'well 54, as indicated at 64. The annular platform thus constitutes part of the rotatable assembly of the machine.

A plurality of cylinders 66, in this case 6 are rigidly secured to the annular platform 52 as shown at 67-. These cylinders have pistons 68 operable therein. For the purpose of operating the pistoins, the side walls of the cylinders are provided with elongated slots 69 adapted to slidably receive blocks 71 which are secured to the pistons and on the outer ends of each of which a roller 72 is mounted. The rollers 72 ride upon and are guided by a pair of cams 73.

The main casing 13 carries castings 74 adapted to receive upright posts 76 which carry an annular support ring 7'7. An adjustable rod 78 is threaded into the support ring '77 and is connected as shown at '79 to the lower of the earns 73 (Fig. 2). The cams 73 are adjustably secured together by means shown at 75' (Fig. 1).

Upon adjusting the threaded rod 78, the cams may be tilted as a whole to adjust the throw of pistons 68 and hence the volumetric fill. When the threaded rod 73 has been properly adjusted it may be locked in position by the means shown at 81.

The cylinders 66, the pistons 68 and the manner in which they are connected to the rollers 72 and the means of adjusting the cams 73 for the purpose of varying the volumetric fill are more particularly described in the above mentioned co-pending application.

Carried by the reservoir well 54'are a plurality of, in this case 6, valve seat castings 82 which are machined to receive conical valves 83 which are held on their seats by spring pressed members 84. The annular platform 62 is provided with ports 86 which mate with ports 87 and 8'3 formed in the valve seat casting 82. Each valve has a port 89 which may be brought into registry with a port 91 formed in the wall of the reservoir well 5 5. The valve seat casting also has a filling port 92 into registry with which a filling port 93 extending through the valve may be brought.

When the valve is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the piston 68 is moving upward withdrawing the product from the reservoir through ports 91, S9, 87 and 86 into the cylinder. When the valve is rotated through 90' the

ports

92, 93 and 83 are brought into registry with each other and the piston 68 moves downward to discharge the product into a container to be filled, the port 89 during this operation beingclosed to cut off communication between the reservoir and the cylinder. The particular construction of the valves and ports and the manner in which the valves are seated constitute no part of my present invention and are more particularly described in the above mentioned copending application.

Each of the valves is provided with a crank 96 (Fig. 1) upon the end of which a roller 97 is mounted. Depending from the supporting ring 77 are two castings 98 '(Fig. 2), one of which is not shown. These castings support cam elements adapted to actuate the rollers 97 to shift the valve 83 through 90 to open and close the valves. The particular arrangement of cams to open and close the valves constitutes no part of the invention. A suitable arrangement is shown and described in the above mentioned a-p nding ppl i n- .R idly s ppor ed from h brac s 74 (F Carried by the casing 13 is a container platform 101 over which the containers are moved as will presently appear. Mounted on the container platform 101 is a series of brackets 102 (see Fig. 4) which carry an annular c0ntainer guide ring 103. The container guide ringv 103 constitutes the outer guide,v for the containers as they are rotated over the stationary platform 101.

As previously mentioned, the casting 56 is part of the rotatable assembly and carries a support 104. An inner annular guide ring 107 is secured, in the manner shown at 106 (Fig. 2), to the supports 104. The inner guide ring 107 for the containers therefore constitutes part of the rotatable assembly (see also Fig. 4).

Keyed to the upper end of the shaft 23 (Fig. 2 is an annular plate 108 to which a star wheel 109 is rigidly secured as shown at 111. The star wheel has a plurality of, in this case 6 (Fig. 5), container pockets 112 which serve to rotate the containers, around the axis of the shaft 23 and feed them in timed relation into the machine.

The containers are confined during their rotation by a segmental guide 113 The machine is provided with a discharge guide 114 (Fig. 5) and the containers are discharged from the machine onto a conveyor 11-5 which lies below the straight line position of the containers as shown in Pig. 5. The container discharge guide 114 is slotted as shown at 116 and is secured in a rigid but adjustable position by bolts 117. The adjustment is provided to accommodate containers of greater diameter than those shown.

When it is desired to change over the machine for filling cans of larger diameter than those shown in the drawings, the star wheel 109 is changed to one having larger container pockets and an annular guide segment i113 of larger diameter than that shown is employed. In addition, the outer container guide 103 is changed and one of larger diameter substituted therefor. Other than as mentioned, the parts of the machine remain the same and no adjustment except for the discharge guide 114 and increasing the volume of fill as previously mentioned, is required. The machine may be quickly converted for filling containers of diameters, within reasonable limits, other than those shown in the drawings,

One or" the problems encountered by designers of machines of the character with which this invention is concerned is that the containers when they leave the machine, as shown in Fig. 5 must be spaced along the discharge conveyor properly for reception a sealing machine which applies the covers to the containers and seals them. The speed of operation of sealing machines varies. While many of them are of variable speed, usually the canner desires a certain speed of. operation to meet a predetermined production schedule. To secure the proper spacing of the containers, the angular speed f th conta ne s w en rotating n h o t in Platform should be that required to properly space the containers on the conveyor for reception in the sealing machine. Such a machine would necessarily have to be larger in diameter th n t a h wn and w uld requi a rea r number of filling cylinders. Then by varying the speed of operation of the filling machine, the proper'spacing of the c ain rs on the disch rg on ey r m y be tained. To secure the flexibility necessary would require considerably more expensive machine than that shown. t t s m m a e tain minimum pacing of. he y rs 66 is n ce sary 0 qemm date them. Th t i t on a ne s at the minimum s ant om e a of h m chi sh n n ig 5 o e re minim m machine costQonly a predetermined number of cylinders can be accommodated around the periphery of the reservoir, in this case, 6

To secure the proper spacing of the containers at the discharge of the machine; reduce the machine to a minimum diameter and therefore cost; secure a smooth transition of the containers into and ont of the machine, I have P d mech n sm whic includes me n for spe d n up the con ainer r p ling e ements at e t points in their travel around the axis of the machine and slow-ing up s ch cen r st; r pelli g el mssts' another point in the rotation thereof around the axis of the machine.

Referring now to Fig. 6, the container propelling mechanism comprises a plurality of container propelling elements or fingers 121 which are preferably curved in the direction of their rotation and are rigidly secured to vertically extending rods or pins 122 as shown at 123. The pins are rigidly secured to a member 124 at 126 and the outer ends thereof have secured thereto a pin 127 upon which a roller 128 rotates. The finger 121, the rod 122 and member 124 constitutes a bell crank.

As previously mentioned and referring to Fig. 1, 61 is a cam ring which has a cam surface 129 formed on the inner surface thereof, which cam is shown in outline in Fig. 5. The rollers 128 ride on this cam surface 129 and are urged into engagement therewith by springs 131.

As shown in Fig. 2, the pin 122 has a suitable bushing 133 which is carried in a bore provided in the casting 56 which as previously mentioned constitutes part of the rotatable assembly. The pin 122 is free to .pivot in its bushing. One end of the spring 131 is curled over the member 124 (Fig. 6) to anchor it as shown at 134, the other end of the spring 131 being anchored in an aperture 136 provided in the under side of the casting 56. The action of the spring as will appear from Fig. is to continuously urge the roller 128 into engagement with the cam surface 129.

The cam surface 129 is shaped to secure the results which follow. There is, of course, a maximum speed at which the filling machine may operate Without the material slopping over the sides of the containers. The speed of the machine is further limited by the time interval required to fill the containers. With the speed of the machine at its maximum considering the above limiting factors, the containers can be discharged only at a given maximum rate. This rate of discharge is of course the same as the speed at which the sealing machine is regulated to operate and is necessarily the same as the rate at which the conveyor 115 is operating to remove containers from the filling machine and deliver them to the sealing machine. However, because a minimum diameter of filling machine is desiredwhich minimum will accommodate only six filling cylinders, the spacing of the containers on the filling machine is greater than is essential on the conveyor properly to space the containers for reception by the sealing machine.

To obtain the proper spacing of the containers on the conveyor, the containers must be slowed down as they approach and move onto the discharge conveyor 115. Thus at the point 140 the cam surface 129 is curved inward toward the axis of the machine which results in slowing down the container engaging end of the finger. Thus the containers may be said to catch up to each other. Since the slope of the cam 129 beyond or counterclockwise of the point 140 is gradual, the transition from fast rotation to a slower rotation is gradual and the transfer of the containers from the filling machine to the conveyor is smooth and spillage of product is avoided.

I have indicated in the drawings the end of the conveyor at 141. If it is found that the containers are slowed down to an extent greater than that required to give the spacing necessary on the discharge conveyor, the conveyor is shifted to the left, as viewed in Fig. 5, so that the containers move on to the conveyor at an earlier point in the retardation of the propelling fingers. This increases the spacing of the containers on the conveyor over that shown in the drawings. If the reverse, that is, closer spacing of the containers on the conveyor is necessary, the conveyor is shifted to the right of the position shown at 141.

The cam surface rises from the point 140 to the point 142 after which it recedes from the axis of the filling machine to a low point 143. During this interval the propelling end of the finger is being speeded up. This speed ing up is followed again by a slowing down of the speed of the finger as the cam rises. When the roller reaches about the point 144 the speed of the finger must be such that it may insert itself between two containers on the star wheel without touching either of them.

The star wheel should be preferably as small in diameter as possible to minimize use of floor space. Since both the star'wheel and the filling machine have six container stations, the angular speed of the star wheel and the filling machine must be the same. As a container is discharged onto the filling machine platform 101 by continued rotation of the star wheel, the propelling end of the finger picks it up and the shape of the cam is such that the angular speed of the propelling end of the finger is essentially the same as that of the filling machine. Beyond this point the filling position of the machine begins and the angular speed of the propelling end of the finger must be the same as the angular speed of the filling machine in order to maintain the container under the filling opening of the valve. Thus around the machine counterclockwise to the point on the cam, the cam is of fixed distance from the axis of the machine prior to which the containers have been filled.

The timed relation of the operation of the valves and the pistons; the manner of adjustment of the cam 73 to vary the volumetric fill; and a suitable no-can fill mechanism has been described in the above mentioned application and need not be repeated herein.

It will beapparent that I have provided novel means for enabling the reduction in diameter of a filling machine and reduced the number of pistons and cylinders required to a minimum to thereby reduce the cost of the machine to a price within the range of small canners. At the same time the containers are properly spaced in the machine during filling and a smooth transition of the containers to and from the machine is obtained. Of greater importance is the fact that the containers may be properly spaced on the discharge conveyor in accordance with the requirements of the sealing machine.

In the manner previously described, the entire rotating assembly with the exception of the casting 56 and the parts carried thereby may be raised from the position shown in the drawings to accommodate containers of increased height. By simple means, as previously described, the machine may be readily converted to accommodate containers of somewhat larger diameter than those shown in the drawings.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it will be appreciated that various changes may be made, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A filling machine for containers comprising, in combination, a reservoir for the material to be filled into the containers and having a vertical axis, means for rotating the containers around said vertical axis through a path of travel which at all points is equidistant from said vertical axis, means for filling the containers from said reservoir as they rotate about through said path of travel, and means for varying the speed of rotation of said containers during portions of their rotation through said path of travel.

2. A filling machine in accordance with claim 1 in which the speed of rotation of the containers is decreased adjacent the end of said path of travel.

-3. A filling machine for containers comprising, in combination, a reservoir for the material to be filled into the containers and having a vertical axis, means for rotating the containers around said vertical axis through a circular path of travel, means including a plurality of cylinders for filling said containers spaced around said vertical axis above the circular path of movement of said containers, means for rotating said reservoir and cylinders as a unit, means for maintaining the speed of rotation of the containers and the speed of rotation of the cylinders the same while the containers are being filled and means for varying the speed of rotation of the containers during portions of their movement through said circular path of travel.

4. A filling machine in accordance with claim 3 in which the speed or rotation of the containers is decreased adjacent the end of said path of travel.

5. A filling machine in accordance with claim 3 in which a conveyor is positioned adjacent the end of said path of travel and in which the speed of rotation of the containers is decreased prior to and during the transition of said containers from said machine to the conveyor.

6. A filling machine for containers comprising, in combination, a reservoir for the material to be filled into the containers and having a vertical axis, means comprising a plurality of pivoted fingers for rotating said containers around said vertical axis through a path of travel, means including a plurality of cylinders for filling said containers spaced around said vertical axis above the path of movement of said containers, means for rotating said reservoir and cylinders as a unit, means for maintaining the speed of rotation of said fingers and the speed of rotation of said cylinders the same while the containers are being filled, said means including a cam for actuating said fingers and rotating said fingers about their pivots adjacent the end of the path of travel to decrease the speed of rotation of the containers.

7. A filling machine in accordance with claim 6 in which a conveyor is positioned adjacent the end of the path of travel to which the filled containers are transferred, the decrease in speed of rotation of the containers being gradual whereby the conveyor may be shifted with respect to the path of movement to secure a desired spacing of said containers on said conveyor.

8. A filling machine for containers comprising, in combination, a reservoir for the material to be filled into the containers and having a vertical axis, means including a plurality of fingers for rotating the containers around said vertical axis through a path of travel, means including a plurality of cylinders for filling said containers spaced around said vertical axis above the path of movement of said containers, means for rotating said reservoir and cylinders as a unit, means for maintaining the speed of rotation of the fingers and the speed of rotation of the cylinders the same while the containers are being filled, and means for varying the speed of rotation of said fingers during portions oi their movement through said path of travel.

9. A filling machine in accordance with claim 8 Wherein the containers are moved onto the platform by a star wheel and variation in the speed of movement of the fingers as the containers ride onto the platform spaces the containers on the platform in accordance with a desired spacing and a conveyor positioned adjacent the end of the path of travel for the reception of the containers, and means are provided for decreasing the speed of rotation of the fingers adjacent the end of their path of travel and secure a smooth transition of the containers from the platfornft to the conveyor and a desired spacing of the containers thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS