US2749003A

US2749003A - Container closing device

Info

Publication number: US2749003A
Application number: US229596A
Authority: US
Inventors: Willy E Zimmermann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-06-02
Filing date: 1951-06-02
Publication date: 1956-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 1973-06-05

Description

June 5, 1956 w, E. ZIMMERMANN 2,749,003

CONTAINER CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 2, 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 17 FE q-/ I 147 T 15 160 Q 161 14 a4 1 I Z00 r 15.5 16 1 43 10 I 193 g a 23 l jg 3e a i 31 June 5, 1956 w, E. ZIMMERMANN 2,749,003

CONTAINER CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 2 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 1451.4 r E Z/MMEe/m/v/v June 5, 1956 w. E. ZIMMERMANN 2,749,003

CONTAINER CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 2, 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 CONTAINER CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 2, 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet, 5-

m [HZ EZ'IZZIF Marl? Z/M/VEEAM/W 12a 132 $3 Emu 142 June 5, 1956 W. E. ZIMMERMANN CONTAINER CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 2, 1951 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 [Hz En is? IVLL y E Z/M/VEE/VA/VA/ Figs.

United States Patent C CONTAWER CLOSING DEVECE Willy E. Zimmermann, Chicago, Iii.

Application June 2, 1951, Serial No. 229,596

18 Claims. (Cl. 53-130) This invention relates to improvements in container capping devices and more particularly relates to such a device adapted to cap containers by relative movemen of the container with respect to a capping head.

Heretofore, containers, and particularly containers such as milk bottles, have been capped by disk caps fitting in the mouth of the bottle or by protective caps crimped to the rim of the mouth of the bottle. Such containers have also been closed by disk caps covered by protective caps.

The capping device for placing disk caps upon the bottles has usually been associated with the bottle filler, and a conveyor or bottle transferring device usually transfers the bottles from the filler to the capping de vice. Where a disk is applied to close a bottle and it is desired to cover the disk with a protective cap, it has i been necessary to provide a separate machine in addition to the disk capper, to apply the protective cap, together with an additional bottle transferring means or conveyor for transferring the bottles from the disk capper to the protective capper. These capping machines are relatively expensive and with their transfer devices or conveyors require considerable room, and where two capping machines are required to cap a bottle with both disk and protective cap, the expense of the capping operation is so great as to make it impractical for many dairies, particularly the smaller ones, to effect this operation by machine.

A principal object of my present invention is to improve upon the art of capping by effecting the capping operation by a single capping head, which is capable of automatically applying both disk and protective caps to an individual bottle, or either disk or protective caps, as desired.

A further object of my invention is to provide a'novel and improved form of bottle capper arranged with a view toward applying both disk and protective caps to bottles in a predetermined sequence by a single capping unit.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved form of capping device particularly adapted to cap milk bottles and so arranged as to apply either disk or protective caps to the bottles, as desired, or to apply both disk and protective caps, and to indent the protective caps down to the level of the top of the disk cap;

Another object of my invention is to provide a simpliin a container is capped by relative movement of the "ice container with respect to a capping device and wherein the container is moved in a predetermined sequence by a multiple peaked cam member, one peak of which effects movement of the container vertically to effect a disk capping operation and the other peak of which effects movement of the container vertically to effect a protective capping operation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a capping device operable to close containers with both disk and protective caps by relative movement of the container with respect to a capping head, including means for successively feeding disk and protective caps for applying to the container, dependent upon the pres ence of a container for capping, and controlled by verti-. cal movement of the container into and out of position for capping.

Still another object of my invention is to provide at novel form of capping device, particularly adapted to cap bottles by relative movement of the bottles with respect to the capping head, including two magazines, one for disk caps and the other for protective caps, together with a double peaked cam for periodically raising the bottles for disk and protective capping, and feeding means for the caps operated by horizontal travel of the capping head and bottle, for successively feeding disk and protective caps into position to be applied to the bottle in a predetermined sequence.

These and other objects of my invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a capping device constructed in accordance with my invention, with certain parts thereof broken away and certain other parts shown in vertical section;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the capping device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is a detail fragmentary sectional view taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 2 and showing the capping device in an initial step in the disk capping operation;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view somewhat similar to Fig. 4 and showing the capping device in the operation of applying a disk cap to a milk bottle;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view of the capping device taken substantially along line VI-VI of Fig. 3 and showing certain details of both the protective and disk cap feeding means;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line VIIVII of Fig. 2;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary end view of the capping device showing certain other details of the disk cap feeding mechanism, not shown in Figure 7;

- Figure 9 is a fragmentary end view showing the control cam for the disk and protective capping operations, in end elevation;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of the control cam taken substantially along line XX of Fig. 2;

- Figure 11 is a fragmentary plan view of the slide for feeding the disk caps;

Figure 12 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line XII-XII of Fig. 11;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line XIIIXIII of Fig. 2 and showing the device in an initial phase of the operation of applying a protective cap;

Figure 14 is a fragmentary view somewhat similar-to Fig. 13, showing the device at the end of the protective cap applying operation;

Figure 15 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the centering bell for centering the bottles for the capping operations;

Figure 16 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along line XVl-XVI of Figure 15; and

Figure 17 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken through a modified form of capping unit, for applying protective caps only, with the unit removed from its clamping jaws and easing.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, a plurality of capping heads Iiiconstructed in accordance with my invention are shown as being mounted on a support frame 11, adjustably mounted. on a column 12 to accommodate the device to the various heights of bottles to be capped. As herein shown, an adjusting screw 13 is threaded in said block and rotatably mounted in. an outboard support 14 secured to the top of the column 12 and projecting therefrom. The adjusting screw 13 is held from vertical movement with respect to the support 11 by spaced collars 15, 15 pinned to. said screw and extending along the top and bottom sides of the support 14. A set screw 16 may be provided to lock the support frame 11 in the desired position. A hand crank 17 is shown as being mounted on the upper end of the adjusting screw 13 for rotating said screw.

The column 12 is shown as being mounted in an upright hub 18 of a rotatably driven plate 19, which may be journaled in a base 20. Said base may be the base of a bottle filler (not shown). The plate 19 may be rotatably drivenat a predetermined speed of rotation by a motor and suitable drive connections therefrom (not shown) contained within said base. The motor and drive are well known to those skilled in the art, so need not be shown and described herein.

The bottle filler may be any well known form commonly used to fill bottles and more particularly milk bottles and is usually mounted on the same frame or base as the capper, and provision is usually made for transferring the filled milk bottles from the filler to vertically movable bottle holders 21 rotatable with the base 19.

One bottle holder 21 is usually provided for each capping device, and the bottle is supported thereon during both the disk cap and protective capping operations and is moved thereby to effect both of the capping operations by vertical movement of the bottle. As herein shown, the bottle, holder 21 has a depending hollow leg 23 slidably guided on an upright pin 24, secured to and extending upwardly from the rotatable plate 19. A earn 25 is provided to raise and lower the bottle holder 21 and the bottle thereon during the capping operation. As herein shown, the cam 25 is of semi-circular form, in horizontal section and has a plurality of

lugs

27, 27 extending laterally therefrom, resting on

sleeves

29, 29 mounted on the base and secured thereto as by

machine screws

30, 30, which may be. threaded in said base. The cam is thus stationary during rotative movement of the plate 19 and bottle holder 21, and is provided with two spaced

peaks

31 and 33, of different heights, with. a valley therebetween.

A follower, inthe form of a roller 35, is herein shown as riding, on the cam 25 to raise and lower the bottle holder 21 upon relative movement of said bottle holder with respect to said cam. The follower 35 is rotatably mounted on a pin 36 secured to and extending outwardly from the hollow leg 23. The follower 35, riding along the cam 25,, raises a bottle holder 21 for the disk capping operation as said follower rides over the peak 33 of lesser elevation. It then lowers the bottle holder 21 for feeding of the protective caps and raises the bottle holder 21 for the protective capping operation as said follower rides .over. the peak 31 of greater elevation.

Each capping device includes generally an upper casing part 37 of a generally bell-shaped form. Connecting

ears

39, 39 extend. laterally from said upper casing part and are spaced vertically with respect to each other to extend along and engage the top and bottom. sides of the support frame 11. Said ears aresecured to said support 4 frame as by

bolts

41, 41 extending through said ears and support frame. As herein shown, the upper casing part 37 is mounted in a recessed portion 42 of said support frame and the

ears

39, 39 extend beyond said recessed portion in diametrically opposed relationship with respect to each other along the top and bottom sides of said sup port frame.

The upper casing part 37 is herein shown as having a flanged bottom, abutted by a frame portion 43 which projects laterally therefrom and forms a support frame for the disk and protective cap feeding apparatus. A lower casing part 44 abuts the bottom of said frame portion in alignment with said upper part and depends therefrom, and carries a disk capper unit 45 and a protective capper unit 46 encircling said disk capper unit. Machine screws 47, 47 are provided to secure said parts to said frame portion (see Fig. 3).

The disk capper unit 45 and the protective capper unit 46 are each mounted on the lower end of a central shaft 53 slidably mounted in the upper portion of the upper casing part 37 and extending upwardly through the top thereof. The shaft 53 likewise extends along a chamber 51 formed in said upper and lower parts. Two diametrically

opposed pins

54, 54 are shown as being threaded in the opposite side walls of the upper casing part 37 and as having reduced inner end portions slidably engaging

slots

55, 55 extending along the central shaft 53 and holding said shaft and the

capper units

45 and 46 in the proper relation with respect to the chamber 51 and also limiting vertical movement of the shaft 53 and said capper units.

The protective capper unit 46 includes a sleeve 57 mounted on and depending from the central shaft 53 and secured thereto as by a pin 59. The sleeve 57 encircles and is spaced from the disk capper unit 45, which is secured to a reduced lower end portion 61 of the central shaft 53 as by a machine screw 63 threaded in said. reduced lower end portion. An aligning pin 64 sliding in a slot 65 is provided to align said disk capper unit with the protective capper unit 46. The capper unit 45 has a flanged lower end portion 66 of substantially the diameter of the disk cap, for pressing the cap within the mouth of the bottle. The flange 66 abuts a shouldered portion 67 of a stepped sleeve 68 slidably guided on the shank of. the disk capper 45 and held in alignment therewith by a pin 69, slidably engaging a slot 70 extending vertically along. said disk capper. A spring 71 encircles the disk capper 45 within the sleeve 5'7 and urges the stepped sleeve against the flange 66.

The lower step of the stepped sleeve 68 depends from the flange 66 and has an inwardly extending ridge 72 at its lower end, forming a cap retainer for retaining the disk cap for applying by the diskcapper member 45. The lower end of the said stepped sleeve 68 also comes into engagement with the top of the mouth of the bottle, to yieldably hold the protective cap to the bottle during the initial protective capping operation, as shown in Figure 14. The stepped sleeve or cap retainer has a horizontal slot 74 extending thercthrough, through which are fed disk caps 75, retained within said stepped sleeve or retainer by the ridge 72.

A relatively strong spring 76 encircles the shaft 53 wit-hinthe chamber 51 and is interposed between the top of the sleeve 57 and the top wall of the chamber 51 to yieldably urge the shaft 53 and sleeve 57 into the position shown in Figure 3. The spring 76 must be sufficiently strong to hold the shaft 53 and the sleeve 57 in position during the initial operation of pressing a disk cap on a bottle and then must yield to permit vertical movement tending therefrom and spaced upwardly from the bottom thereof.

A sealing rubber or member 79 engages the lower end of said flange andis suitably secured thereto and depends therefrom. Y

The sealing rubber 79 may be of a well known form and is moved into clamping engagement with a protective cap 80 by means of a plurality of clamping

jaws

81, 81. The clamping

jaws

81, 81 are herein shown as engaging the top of the annular flange 78 and extending upwardly along the sleeve 57. The

jaws

81, 81 each have an inwardly recessed lower end portion 82 engageable with the sealing ring 79. A coil spring 84 encircles and is recessed within the clamping

jaws

81, 81 at a point spaced adjacent the upper ends thereof and yieldably retains said jaws to said sleeve.

The inner upper end portions of the clamping

jaws

81, 81 are adapted to engage an inclined face of the casing portion 44, of an inverted frusto-conical form and forming a cam, clamping the

jaws

81, 81 against the sealing rubber 79- and clamping said rubber against the protective cap 80 to crimp said protective cap to the mouth of the bottle, upon vertical movement of the bottle and clamping jaws with respect to the casing portion 44, as may best be seen with reference to Figure 14.

It may be seen, with reference to Figures 1, l3 and 14, and assuming a disk cap is in place in the bottle and a protective cap is ready to be applied, that as'the bottle holder moves the bottle upwardly through a centering bell 85, centering the bottle with respect to the protective capper 46, the bottle will first engage the bottom of the stepped sleeve and disk cap retainer 68, moving said sleeve upwardly against the spring 71, until the disk capper unit 46 comes into engagement with the center of the protective cap 80. Further vertical movement of the bottle will indent the protective cap within the bottle into engagement with the disk cap and will then effect vertical. movement of the shaft 53 against the spring 76. At the same time, the protective cap will also be engaged with the sealing rubber 79. Vertical movement of the central shaft 53 against the compression spring 76 will move the engaging ends of the clamping

jaws

81, 81 along the inverted frusto-conical surface of the lower casing portion 44. This will spread the upper ends of said jaws about a beaded ring 86 within the centering bell 85 and recessed within the outer ends of said jaws, and contract, the lower ends of said jaws and press the sealing rubber 79 against the protective cap and crimp said cap to the mouth of the bottle.

The centering bell 85 includes a cylinder 87 encircling the clamping

jaws

81, 81 and mounted thereon on the beaded ring 86. Said centering bell has a converging downwardly opening mouth portion 88 secured to the bottom of the cylinder 87 and extending inwardly therefrom, and through which the mouth of the bottle passes during vertical movement thereof. Said mouth portion engages the bottle neck as the bottle is moved upwardly by the bottle holder 21, to accurately center the bottle and maintain it in centered relation with respect to the

capper units

45 and 46 at all times during the operation of applying the disk and protective caps.

As shown in Figures and 16, the beaded ring 86 has a plurality of

pins

89, 89 extending laterally from the wall thereof, which extend through

bayonet slots

90, 90 formed in the wall of the cylinder 87 and opening to the top thereof. Compression springs 91, 91 are mounted in vertically drilled portions in the wall of the cylinder 87 and are seated at their lower ends on the mouth portion of the bell. The upper ends of said springs are seated in

cylindrical retainers

92, 92, slidably guided within the drilled portions of the bell and intersecting the

slots

90, 90. Said retainers engage the

pins

89, 89 to allow vertical movement of said bell with respect to the beaded ring 86, and to enable the centering bell to take care of various shapes of bottles, and particularly bottles having sealing or protective ribs of a larger diameter than the mouth of the bottle projecting therefrom and spaced beneath the mouth thereof. With such bottles (notshown) the projecting rib engages flared mouth of the centering bell and the rib on the bottle will yieldably move the centering bell upwardly against compression springs 91, 91.

The centering bell has a slot 148 extending along and through the wall 87 thereof, through which the disk caps are fed. A circumferentially spaced slot 185 also extends along and through the wall 87 for the protective caps (see Figures 6 and 15).

Referring now in particular to Figures 2, 4 and 6 through 12, illustrating the means for feeding the disk caps through the slot 148 in the centering bell 85 and through the slot 74 of the stepped sleeve and disk cap retainer 68, when a bottle is present to be capped, and preventing the feeding of such caps when no bottle is present, said feeding mechanism is actuated by a stationary control cam 95 (Fig. 2). The control cam 95 may be mounted on the tiller base 20 for vertical adjustment with respect thereto, to take care of various sizes of bottles, on two parallel spaced vertically extending

rods

96, 96. The

rods

96, 96 may be secured to and project upwardly from the filler base 20. A threaded rod 99, operated by a hand crank 100, is rotatably mounted in a lug 101 projecting from the cam 95, and may have threaded engagement with a stationary member (not shown) to vary the elevation of said cam in accordance with the elevation of the capping head 10.

The control cam 95 has a sloping, inwardly recessed cam undersurface 102, sloping inwardly from the upper to the lower margin of said cam and terminating at the lower margin of said cam intermediate the ends thereof, as shown in Figs. 2, 9 and 10. The sloping cam surface 102 of the control cam is engaged by a rounded upper end portion of a trip lever 103, as a capping device 10 moves along the cam 95 to actuate the feeding mechanism by first depressing and then pivoting said trip lever inwardly to a horizontal position, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 8. Said trip lever remains in this position, inoperative to actuate the feeding device, until it is pivoted to the vertically extending position shown in Figures 7 and 8, by vertical movement of a bottle, as will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds.

The trip lever 103 is moved to its upright operative position by vertical movement of the bottle and shaft 53 as the bottle holder 21 moves upwardly along the peak 31 of the cam 25, by means of a trip rod 104 depending from an outboard support bracket 105 projecting laterally from the central shaft 53 and secured thereto forvertical movement therewith. As herein shown, a nut 106 is threaded on the upper end of the central shaft 53 andfholds the bracket 105 and a washer 107 in engagement with a shouldered portion of said shaft.

The trip rod 104 has an inwardly turned lower end portion 109 which underlies the trip lever 103 when said trip lever is in horizontal position. As a bottle is moved upwardly by the bottle holder 21 into engagement with the sealing rubber 79 and protective capper unit 46, and vertically moves said sealing rubber and capper unit and the shaft 53, the inwardly turned end 109 of the trip rod 104 will engage and pivot the trip lever 103 to the vertically extended position shown in Figure 8.

The trip lever 103 is herein shown as being slidably mounted in a casing member 111 and as being biased into an extended position with respect to said casing member, by a compression spring 112 (see Figure 7). The spring 112 is interposed between a closure member 113 for the bottom of said casing member and a collar 114, herein shown as being formed integrally with said trip member, intermediate the ends thereof.

The casing member 111 is shown as having a boss 115 extending laterally therefrom, which is rotatably mounted in an upright arm 116 which may be formed integrally with a bottom portion of the support frame 43. A machine screw and washer 117 threaded in the outer end of 7 said boss serves to retain saidcasing member to said arm and permit movement thereof about the axis of said boss and screw.

The boss is herein shown as having two angularly disposed inclined faces and 121 in the space between said casing and the inner side of the upright arm 115. These faces are adapted to be engaged by a leaf spring 123 secured at its lower end to the arm 116 and yi'eldably holding the trip lever 103 in its upward or a horizontally extending position.

The lower end of the trip lever 103 is slidably guided in the bottom 113 of the casing 111 and extends therebeneath for engagement with one arm 124 of a bell crank 125. The bell crank 125 is pivoted intermediate its ends between spaced

ears

126, 126 of the support frame 43 on 'apivot pin 127. A depending arm 129 of the bell crank 125 extends within an upwardly opening slot 130 formed in a block 131. The block 131 is slidably guided in an elongated recessed guide formed in the lower portion of the support frame 43 and is urged to an outermost position with respect to said recess by means of a spring 128 (see Figure 7). The block 131 is herein shown as having ratchet teeth 133 formed integrally with an outer face thereof. The teeth 133 mesh with a pinion 134 formed integrally with a shaft 135 journaled in the lower portion of the support frame 43. The shaft 135 is herein shown as depending from the pinion 134 and as having a lever arm 136 secured thereto and extending inwardly therefrom beneath the bottom of the frame 43.

' The lever arm 136 is shown as being held to shaft 135 by means of a machine screw 137. If desired, a springurged ball (not shown) may form a releasable lock between the shaft 135 and arm 136, to rock said arm upon rocking movement of said shaft, but to allow said shaft to move with respect to said lever arm in cases Where the feeding mechanism may become jammed. It is, of course, obvious that various drive connections may be provided between said arm and shaft.

The lever arm 136 has a bifurcated free end, the space between the furcations of which slidably engages a pin 141. The pin 141 extends through and slidably engages a slot 143 extending along a slide 144 for the disk caps, and is secured at its upper end to a feed plate 145 slidably guided along the top of said slide.

As herein shown, the slide 144 and feed plate 145 are in alignment with the slot 74 in the disk cap retainer 68 and are slidably guided in

gibbed guides

146, 146 formed integrally with the support frame 43 and overlying the edges of the feed plate 145. The advance end of the slide 144 is shown as'being recessed to conform to the curvature of the enlarged'diameter portion of the sleeve or cap retainer 68. The advance end of the feed plate 145 is similarly recessed.

When the disk cap feeding mechanism is in a retracted position the slide 144 is positioned just beneath the bottom or discharge end of a disk cap magazine 147, detachably mounted on the support frame 43, and the top surface of the slide 144 is in alignment with the bottom of the slot 74. The feed plate 145 is of substantially the thickness. of a cap, to take one cap from the bottom of the magazine at a time, it being understood that the caps are fed from the magazine by gravity.

A plurality of spring-urged detents, including balls 150, are mounted in the slie 144 in alignment with each other on opposite sides of the slot 143 and in communication therewith. The

balls

150, 150 are yieldably urged into engagement with corresponding recessed portions of the pin 141 by means of

springs

151, 151, held in place by

plugs

152, 152, which may be set screws, to effect movement of the slide 144 with the feed plate 145 upon pivotal movement of the arm 136.

During the operation of supplying a disk to the disk cap retainer 68, depression of the trip lever 103 by engagement with the recessed inclined cam surface 102 of thecontrol cam 95 will effect rocking movement of the bell crank 1-25 and will rectilinearly move the rack 133 against the spring 128. This will pivot the pinion 134 and shaft 135 and rock the lever arm 136- about the axis of said. shaft and effect rectilinear movement of the slide 144' and feed plate 145 through the slot 148 in the wall of the centeringbell 85. During initial rocking movement of the lever arm 136 the slide 144 and feed plate 145 will move together by virtue of the yieldable connection therebetween, effected by the

detent balls

150, 150. As the advance end of the slide 144 comes into engagement with the enlarged portion of the stepped sleeve 68, the

detent balls

150, 150 will be disengaged from the pin 141 and the feed plate 145 will move rectilinearly of the slide 144 and feed a disk cap through the slot 74 in the stepped sleeve 68- into engagement with the rib 72, in position to be applied to a bottle by the disk capper unit 45 in the manner hereinbefore described.

It should here be understood that when once a cap has been fed into position to be supported by the retaining rib 72, the trip lever 103 will be in the horizontal position shown by broken lines in Figure 8. Feeding is attained prior to travel of the follower roller 35 up the rise to the peak 33 of the cam 25, and as said follower rides up to said peak the bottle will be elevated through the mouth of the centering bell 85 into engagement with the lower end of the stepped sleeve 68. As the bottle moves upwardly a further distance the bottom of the disk capper unit 45. will come into engagement with the disk cap and press said cap within. the mouth of the bottle, as shown in Figure 5.

It should here be noted that during the operation of applying the disk caps to the bottles, the spring 76 inhibits. vertical movement of the shaft 53 within the casing 37 until the cap has initially been applied, and. that the shaft 53 will then move a short distance against the spring 76, as determined by the peak of the cam 33, but not far enough to trip the trip lever 103. It should also be understood that vertical movement of the trip rod 104 to trip said trip lever is attained during, the protective capping operation when the follower 35 reaches the peak 31 of the cam 25.

If nobottle is present to etfect elevation of the rod 104 as the bottle carrier is elevated by the peak 31 of the cam 25, the trip lever 103 will remain in its horizontal inoperative position and no disk cap will be fed to be ap plied to the bottle. It should also be understood that as soon as the trip lever 103 is released from the arm 124 of the bell crank 125, the spring 128 will return the disk cap slide 144 and feed plate 145 into position to feed the next disk cap for application to the next succeeding bottle.

The protective caps 80 are contained in a protective cap magazine 153 detachably carried on the support frame 43 and projecting upwardly therefrom, as best seen in Figures l, 2, l3 and 14. The protective caps 80 are released from the magazine 153 one at a time by vacuum created by a vacuum pump 155, as the bottle is moved vertically by the rise to the peak 31 of the cam 25.

Thevacuum pump 155, as shown in Figure 3, includes a. cylinder 156, the upper part of which is threaded within the support frame 43 and the lower part of which is shown as being formed integrally with said frame. The cyl inder- 156 is herein shown as having an upwardly extending boss 15-9 forming a guide for a vertical pump shaft 160. The pump shaft 160 extends through the outboard support bracket 105 and a boss 161 projecting upwardly therefrom, and is vertically moved therewith upon vertical movement of the shaft 53 and the bracket 105 by means of a plurality of spring-urged

detent balls

162, 162 mounted in the boss 161 and engaging an annular recessed groove 1.63 in said pump shaft. A piston 167, herein shown as being formed from a leather disk of a form commonly used in air pumps, is mounted on the pump shaft 160 intermediate its ends within the cylinder 156. As herein shown, the piston 167 is retained against a stepped portion of the shaft 160 by means of'a nut 169 threaded on said shaft and engaging the bottom of said piston. A spring 170 is interposed between the top of th cylinder 156 and the top of the piston 167. I

A port 171 leading to the atmosphere is provided in the wall of the cylinder 156, adjacent but above the lower end thereof and the top of the piston 167 when said piston is in a lowermost position with respect to said cylinder. The purpose of said port is to break the vacuum in said cylinder when the piston 167 has moved below said port.

The pump shaft 160 is cross-drilled above the piston 167, as indicated by reference character 172. Said pump shaft is also longitudinally drilled from its lower end to said cross-drill, as indicated by reference character 173. The bottom of said longitudinal drill hole may be plugged and a cross-drill 174 is shown as intersecting said longitudinal drill hole adjacent the bottom thereof. The lower end of the shaft 160 is shown as being tapered and an arm 175 is shown as being secured thereto as by a nut 176 (see Figures 3, 13 and 14). The arm 175 extends from the shaft 160 toward the magazine 153. Said arm is longitudinally drilled in communication with the cross-drill 174 and has a vacuum cup 177 mounted on its outer end beneath the protective cap magazine and the caps therein. The vacuum cup 177 has a central passageway 179 communicating with

cross passageways

180, 180 opening to the top thereof, and closed by engagement with the inside of a protective cap, as shown in Figure 14.

As the bottle holder 21 and bottle thereon is moved upwardly along the rise to the peak 31 of the cam 25, to effect the protective capping operation, the bottle coming into engagement with the sealing rubber 79 of the protective capper unit 46 will vertically move the shaft 53, as has previously been described, moving the bracket 105 and pump shaft 160 therewith. This will move the piston 167 along the cylinder 156 to effect the compression stroke of the pump. At the same time, the vacuum cup 177 will be moved upwardly by the shaft 160 into engagement with a lowermost protective cap in the protective cap magazine 153 and will slightly lift all of the caps in said magazine, as shown in Figure 14. As the roller 35 moves downwardly along the far side of the slope from the peak 31, upon completion of the protective capping operation, the spring 76 will return the shaft 53 and the disk capper 45 and protective capper 46 to the positions shown in Figure 3. At the same time, the arm 105 and

detent balls

162, 162 and spring 170 will move the piston 167 downwardly along the cylinder 156. This will create a suction on the lowermost protectivecap 75 and withdraw said cap from the magazine 153, it being understood that the vacuum cup 177 moves downwardly with the piston 167 and pump shaft 160. When the piston 167 passes beneath the port 171, the'vacuum in the cylinder 156 will be broken, to release a protective cap 80 from said vacuum cup and deposit the protective cap on a support 183, at the entering end of an arcuate guide 184 leading to the cap receiving slot 185 in the Wall of the centering bell 85. A protective cap 80 will then be in a position to be fed in an arcuate path over the mouth 88 of the centering bell 85 in direct alignment with the sealing rubber 79 and the mouth of the bottle to be capped.

Feeding of the cap 80 from the support 183 along the arcuate guide 184 into centered relation with respect to the centering bell 85 is effected by means of a pivoted feeding lever 186, herein shown as being mounted coaxially with the pump shaft 160. The feeding lever 186 has a generally horizontal arm positioned just above the top of the support surface 183 and movable along said surface and guide 184 into the slot 185 formed in the centering bell 85. Said lever also has an upright portion 187 depending from a collar 188 mounted on the lower end of a sleeve 189 rotatably mounted within the support frame 43 for movement about the pump shaft 160. The top of the sleeve 189 is flanged and abuts the bottom of the cylinder 156 to hold said sleeve in position on the shaft 160. The sleeve 189 has teeth 190 formed integrally therewith, for a portion of the circumference thereof, which teeth mesh and are driven from a rack 191 guided in a rectilinear guide 192 formed on the support frame 43. I

The rack 191 has a plunger 193 slidably guided therein, having a follower roller 194 mounted on its outer end for rotation about a vertical axis. The follower roller 194 is spaced beneath the engaging end of the trip lever 103 and on the retreating side of said lever and comes into engagement with a vertical engaging face 195 of the cam 95. The face 195 is shown as being disposed beneath the recessed face 102 and inwardly and in advance thereof, as may clearly be seen with reference to Figures 2 and 9. The follower roller 194 thus comes into engagement with the cam face 195 after the disk cap has been applied and as follower 35 and bottle holder 21 and the bottle thereon ride along the valley between the downward slope of the peak 33 and the upward slope or rise to the peak 31. I

The plunger 193 is shown as being slidable within a rectilinear guide 195a formed in the rack 191. A compression spring 196, shown as being seated within said rack and guide, abuts the inner end of the plunger 193 to bias said plunger in the outwardly extended position shown in Figure 6. A pin 197 is shown as extending horizontally through the plunger 193. The ends of said pin project beyond opposite sides of the plunger 193 and are slidably guided in slotted

portions

198, 198 of the rack 191. The pin 197 serves to limit movement of said plunger with respect to said rack.

A compression spring 199 is seated within the inner end of the rack 191 and abuts an end wall of a guide 192 for said rack, and urges said rack in the outwardly extended position shown in Figure 6, and also returns said rack and the feed lever 186 at the end of the protective cap feeding operation.

A means is provided to lock rack 191 from feeding movement and thus prevent operation of the feed lever 186 and the feeding of a protective cap when a bottle is not present to be capped. Said locking means is operated by vertical movement of the bottle and shaft 53 during the disk cap applying operation as the follower 35 and bottle holder 21 and bottle thereon ride over the peak 33 of the cam 25. Said locking means includes a cap check or locking pin 200 mounted on and depending from the outboard support bracket 105 and vertically movable therewith as the shaft 53 and bracket are vertically moved by the bottle during the disk capping operation.

The locking pin 200 is herein shown as being slidably mounted in a sleeve 204 extending through and secured to the outboard support bracket 105, as by nuts 205 threaded thereon and abutting opposite sides of said bracket (see Figure 3). A spring 209 within the sleeve 204 urges the pin 200 in its lowermost position with respect to said sleeve and yields in cases where the lower end of the pin 200 may come into engagement with the top surface of the rack 191.

The locking pin 200 is slidably guided in an upright guide 211, herein shown as being formed integrally with the support frame 43 and extending vertically along an outer side wall of the cylinder 156. When the shaft 53 and bracket 105 are in a lowered position with respect to the casing 37, the locking pin 200 will register with an apertured portion of an ear 213 extending laterally from the rack 191 and slidably guided in a lateral extension of the guide 192, as may clearly be seen with reference to Figures 3 and 6.

When the locking pin 200 is in engagement with the apertured portion of the ear 213, as when no bottle is present on the bottle holder 21 to be capped, the rack 191 will be locked frommovement to actuate the feed V 1 1 lever 186. The follower 194 and plunger 193 may, however, move inwardly with respect to the rack 191 against the spring 196 upon engagement of said follower 194 with the engaging face 195 of the control cam 95.

During the capping operation, when a bottle is present on the carrier 21 and the capping device is rotatably moving with the plate 19, as the roller rides to the top of the peak 33 of the cam 25, and during the application of the disk cap thereto, the bottle will vertically move the shaft 53 and bracket 105 against the spring 76 a distance suflicient to release the locking pin 200 from the apertured portion of the car 213 of the rack 191. As the capping head 10 rotates a further distance, the follower 194 will come into engagement with the vertical engaging face 195 of the control cam 95. This will depress the plunger 193 and rack 191 along the rectilinear guide 192 and pivotally move the pinion teeth 190, sleeve 189 and feed lever 186 to feed a protective cap 80 on the support 183 along the arcuate guide 184 and through the slot 185 into centered relation with respect to the centering bell 85, into position to be crimped over the mouth of the bottle by the sealing rubber 79 and clamping

jaws

81, 81 actuated by vertical movement of the clamping jaws along the inverted frusto-conical surface of the lower casing member 44, in the manner hereinbefore described.

If, however, a bottle is not present on the bottle holder 21, the locking pin 200 will remain in locking engagement with the rack 191, and as follower 194 engages the vertical engaging face 195 of the cam 95, the plunger 193 will move inwardly with respect to the rack 191 against the compression spring 196. Thus, when no bottles are present on the bottle carrier 21, the caps will remain in the magazine 153 so as not to accumulate and clog the centering bell 85 1 In Figure 17 I have shown a modified form of capping unit which may be used where it is desired to apply a protective cap only, and it is not desired to recess the protective cap within the mouth of the bottle. In this form of my invention the disk capper unit is removed from the lower end of the shaft 53 and replaced by a sleeve 215 having a flanged lower end portion. Said sleeve may be secured to the lower end of the shaft 53 by a machine screw 216 extending through said sleeve from the bottom thereof and recessed within said sleeve in abutting engagement therewith. A capping sleeve 219 having a flanged lower end portion 220 is slidably mounted on the sleeve 215 for movement within the sleeve 57. The inner periphery of the sleeve 219 is shouldered and the shouldered portion thereof engages the top face of the flanged portion of the sleeve 215. A compression spring 221 encircles the sleeve 215 within the sleeve 57 and is interposed between a downwardly facing shouldered portion of the sleeve 57 and the top of the sleeve 219. The flanged lower end portion 220 of the sleeve 219 is of sufiicient diameter to engage the. top of the protective cap with the top of the bottle mouth.

Where it is desired to apply a protective cap only with the form of capper unit just described, the. disk cap magazine may be removed. As the bottle is elevated by the rise to the peak 33 of the cam 25, the bottle will first engage the flanged lower end portion 220 of the sleeve 219 and move said sleeve against the spring 221 until the bottle comes into engagement with the sealing rubber 79. At this time, further vertical movement of the bottle will release the cap check pin 200, to allow the feed lever 186 to feed a protective cap into centered relation with respect to centering bell 85 as the follower 35 rides along the valley between the

peaks

33 and 31 of the cam 25. As the bottle rides up the slope of the cam 25 to the second peak 31, it will come into engagement with the underside of a protective cap 80 and move said cap vertically into engagement with the under surface of the flanged portion 220 of the sleeve 219. Further vertical movement of the bottle will engage the protective cap with the sealing rubber 79 and move the sleeve 57 and shaft 53 vertically to apply the cap by vertical movement of the clamping jaws along the inverted conical face of the casing member 44, to positively crimp the cap to the mouth of the bottle by inward movement of the lower ends of said clamping jaws engaging the sealing rubber with the cap and mouth of the bottle in the manner previously described.

Also, if it should be desired to apply disk caps only, the protective cap magazine may be removed from the support frame 43 and the disk caps may be applied in the manner previously described, as the follower 35 reaches the peak 33 of the cam 25.

It may be seen from the foregoing that the capping head of my invention may efliciently apply closure caps to bottles, and particularly milk bottles, either in the form of single disk caps or protective seal caps, or both, as desired, and that when applying the disk and protective caps the protective cap is recessed within the mouth of the bottle down to the disk cap.

It may further be seen that the capping head of my invention includes separate feeding means for the disk and the protective caps, arranged to first feed a disk cap and then, after the disk cap has been applied, to feed a protective cap, and that the protective and disk cap feeding mechanisms are interlocked in accordance with movement of the bottle so that no cap will be supplied to the capper unit unless a bottle is present to be capped.

It will further be seen that the capping and feeding operation is operated and controlled solely by relative movement of the bottles with respect to the capping device.

It may still further be seen that vertical movement of the bottle is effected by a double-peaked cam, one of which peaks effects movement of the bottle vertically for the application of a disk cap thereto, and the other of which peaks moves the bottle vertically to cover the disk cap with a protective cap or to apply a protective cap only, when so desired.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a container capping device, a traveling capping head including separate disk and protective cap holding magazines, a disk capper unit, a protective capper unit coaxial with said disk capper unit, separate means associated with each capper unit and operated by traveling movement of said capping head for alternately feeding disk caps and protective caps in centered relation with respect to said disk and protective capper unit, and means operated by traveling movement of said capping head for alternately elevating the container first into engagement with a disk cap and then into engagement with a, protective cap for successively applying disk and protective. caps thereto.

2. In a container capping device, a traveling capping head having separate disk and protective cap holding magazines, a disk capper unit, a protective capper unit encircling said disk capper unit, and coaxial therewith, separate cam operated means associated with said disk and protective capper units and operated by traveling movement of said capping head alternately feeding disk and protective caps from said magazine into centered relation with respect to said disk and protective capper units, a double-peaked cam operative to first elevate the container into engagement with said disk capper unit and then elevate the container into engagement with said protective capper unit by relative movement of said capping head with respect thereto for alternately applying disk and protective caps thereto.

3. In a bottle capping device, the combination with a rotatable frame having separate disk and protective cap holding magazines thereon, a disk capper unit on said frame, a protective capper unit on said frame coaxial with 13 said disk capper unit, a bottle carrier beneath said capper unit and rotatably movable with said frame, cam means operative to elevate said bottle carrier and the bottle thereon into engagement with said disk and protective capper units for successively applying disk and protective caps thereto upon relative movement between said carrier and cam means, and cam operated means controlled by vertical movement of the bottle and operated by horizontal travel of the bottle for alternately feeding disk and protective caps to said capper units.

4. In a bottle capping device, the combination with a rotatable base having a frame carried thereby in vertically spaced relation with respect thereto and having separate disk and protective cap holding magazines thereon, a disk capper unit on said frame, a protective capper unit on said frame coaxial with said disk capper unit, a bottle holder carrier on said base beneath and in alignment with said disk and protective capper units and adapted to carry a bottle thereon in axial alignment with said capper units, a double cam, an operative connection between said cam and said bottle carrier effecting vertical movement of said carrier and the bottle thereon into successive engagement with said disk and protective capper units upon relative movement between said base and cam, and a cam operated means controlled by vertical movement of the bottle and operated by horizontal movement of said base and cam for alternately feeding disk and protective caps to said disk and protective capper units when a bottle is placed on said bottle carrier to be capped.

5. In a bottle capping device, a rotatably movable base, a vertically movable bottle carrier mounted thereon for rotatable movement therewith, can means engaging said bottle carrier and vertically moving said bottle carrier and the bottle thereon to effect the capping operations, a capping head mounted on said base above said bottle carrier in direct alignment therewith, said capping head including a disk cap magazine, a protective cap magazine, coaxial disk and protective capper units, separate feeding means alternately feeding disk and protective caps from said magazines to said capper units, means controlled by vertical movement of the bottle controlling operation of said feeding means, and other means operated by rotatable movement of said base for sequentially operating said feeding means.

6. In a bottle capping device, a rotatable base, a bottle .carrier mounted thereon for movement therewith and for vertical movement with respect thereto, a stationary cam engaging said bottle carrier and effecting vertical movement thereof during certain cycles of the capping operation, a capping head rotatably mounted on said frame above said bottle carrier in direct alignment with said carrier, said capping head including a casing, a bottle centering bell depending therefrom, a disk capper unit yieldably mounted on said casing in centered relation with respect to said centering bell, a protective capper unit encircling said disk capper unit and centered with respect to said centering bell, means alternately feeding disk and protective caps to said disk and protective capper units, and control means for said feeding means controlled by vertical movement of the bottle and preventing feeding of a disk or protective cap when a bottle is not present to receive the cap.

7. In a bottle capping device, a rotary base, a bottle carrier mounted thereon for movement therewith and for vertical movement with respect thereto, a stationary cam vertically moving said bottle carrier and the bottle thereon during certain cycles of the capping operation, a capping head mounted on said frame above said bottle carrier for rotation therewith, and having a bottle centering bell thereon, a disk capper unit mounted for vertical movement with respect to said head and applying a disk cap by direct engagement of the bottle therewith, a protective capper unit encircling said disk capper unit and mounted for vertical yieldable movement with respect to said head and applying the cap by engagement of the bottle therewith and vertical movement of the bottle and unit with respect to said capping head, cam operated means operative to alternately feed disk cap and protective caps to said capper units, and control means for said cam operated means, operated by vertical movement of the bottle and rendering said feeding means inoperative to feed a cap when a bottle is not present on said bottle carrier to be capped.

8. A capping device comprising a rotatably movable frame, a bottle carrier mounted thereon for movement therewith and for vertical movement with respect thereto, a stationary cam, an operative connection between said cam and the bottle carrier vertically moving said bottle carrier upon rotation thereof, a capping head on said frame and including disk and protective capper units coaxially mounted on said capper head for vertical movement with respect thereto during the capping operation, a disk cap magazine on said frame, a protective cap magazine on said casing, a control cam having two cam surfaces, separate follower means cngaging each of said surfaces, feeding means actuated by said follower means, for successively feeding disk and protective caps to said capper unit, means locking said feeding means from operation at the completion of each feeding operation, means connecting said locking means with said capper units to release said locking means by vertical movement of the bottle and capper units with respect to said casing effective by relative movement of said bottle carrier with respect to said first cam.

9. A capping device comprising a rotatably movable frame, a bottle carrier mounted thereon for movement therewith and for vertical movement with respect thereto, a stationary cam having two spaced peaks, an operative connection between said bottle carrier and cam moving said bottle carrier vertically in two cycles to effect two stages of the capping operation, a capping head on said frame and including an inner disk capper unit and an outer protective capper unit, said units being sequentially engaged by the bottle to effect the capping operation and being vertically moved thereby during capping, a disk cap magazine on said frame, a protective cap magazine on said casing, a control cam having two cam surfaces, a separate follower member engaging each of said cam surfaces for successively feeding disk and protective caps to said capper unit, separate disk and protective cap feeding means actuated by said follower members, means operative at the completion of each feeding operation to render said feeding means inoperative to feed a cap, and means operated by vertical movement of the bottle and said capper units as the bottle is elevated at each peak of said cam for sequentially rendering said follower means operative to effect the feeding operation when a bottle is present on said bottle carrier to be capped.

10. A capping device comprising a capper head having a shaft guided for vertical movement with respect thereto, spring means urging said shaft in a lowermost position with respect to said head, and disk and protective capper units coaxially mounted on said shaft and depending therefrom and including a disk capper member secured to and depending from said shaft and having a relatively flat head facing the ground and of a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the mouth of the bottle, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper and depending therefrom and having a slot formed therein for insertion of the disk caps, and having retaining means at the lower end thereof for retaining the disk caps for application to the bottle, a protective capper sleeve secured to said shaft and encircling said disk capper member and having a sealing rubber thereon engageable with the mouth of the bottle, clamping jaws engageable with said sealing rubber, cam means disposed above said jaws and moving said jaws in a direction to crimp a cap to the bottle upon upward movement of said protective capper sleeve, a centering bell yieldably supported on said jaws and depending therefrom for centering the bottle with respect to said disk and protective capper units, and means moving the bottle vertically in two stages, first into engagement with said disk capper unit to effect disk capping operation and second intoengagement with said protective capper unit to effect the protective capping operation.

11. A capping device comprising a capper head having a shaft guided for vertical movement with respect thereto, spring means urging said shaft in a lowermost position with respect to said head, and disk and protective capper units coaxially mounted on said shaft and depending therefrom and including a disk capper member secured to and depending from said shaft and having a relatively fiat head facing the ground and of a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the mouth of the bottle, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper and depending therefrom and having a slot formed therein for insertion of the disk caps, and having retaining means at the lower end thereof for retaining the disk caps for application to the bottle, a protective capper sleeve secured to said shaft and encircling said disk capper member and having a sealing rubber thereon engageable with the mouth of the bottle, clamping jaws engageable with said sealing rubber, cam means disposed above said jaws and moving said jaws in a direction to crimp a cap to the bottle upon upward movement of said protective capper sleeve, a centering bell yieldable supported on said jaws and depending therefrom for centering the bottle with respect to said disk and protective capper units, and means moving the bottle vertically in two stages, first into engagement with said disk capper unit to effect disk capping'operation and second into engagement with said protective capper unit to effect the protective capping operation, said centering bell being yieldably mounted on said clamping jaws for yieldable vertical movement with respect thereto, by vertical movement of a bottle therein.

12. A capping device comprising a capper head having a shaft guided for vertical movement with respect thereto,

spring means urging said shaft in a lowermost position with respect to said head, and disk and protective capper units coaxially mounted on said shaft and depending therefrom and including a disk capper member secured to and depending from said shaft and having a relatively flat head facing the ground and of a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the mouth of the bottle, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper and depending therefrom and having a slot formed therein for insertion of the disk caps, and having retaining means at the lower end thereof for retaining the disk caps for application to the bottle, a protective capper sleeve secured to said shaft and encircling said disk capper member and having a sealing rubber thereon engageable with the mouth of the bottle, clamping jaws engageable with said sealing rubber, cam means disposed above said jaws and moving said jaws in a direction to crimp a cap to the bottle upon upward movement of said protective capper sleeve, a centering bell yieldably supported on said jaws and depending therefrom for cen tering the bottle with respect to said disk and protective capper units, and means moving the bottle vertically in two stages, first into engagement with said disk capper unit to effect disk capping operation and second into engagement with said protective capper unit to effect the protective capping operation, said centering bell being yieldably mounted on said clamping jaws for yieldable vertical movement with respect thereto, by vertical movement of a bottle therein, said centering bell being slotted in the wall thereof, to sequentially receive the disk and protective caps and having a guide leading to the center thereof, guiding the protective caps in centered relation with respect to said protective capper unit.

13. A capping device comprising a capper head having a shaft guided for vertical movement with respect thereto, spring means urging said shaft in a lowermost position with respect to said head, and disk and protective capper units coaxialy mounted on said shaft and depending therefrom and including a disk capper member secured to and depending from said shaft and having a relatively flat head facing the ground and of a diameter substantially equal to the inside diameter of the mouth of the bottle, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper and depending therefrom and having a slot formed therein for insertion of the disk caps, and having retaining means at the lower end thereof for retaining the disk caps for application to the bottle, a protective capper sleeve secured to said shaft and encircling said disk capper member and having a sealing rubber thereon engageable with the mouth of the bottle, clamping jaws engageable with said sealing rubber, cam means disposed above said jaws and moving said jaws in a direction to crimp a cap to the bottle upon upward movement of said protective capper sleeve, a centering bell yieldably supported on said jaws and depending therefrom for centering the bottle with respect to said disk and protective capper units, individual disk and protective cap magazines mounted on said head to one side of said capper units, and separate feeding mechanisms associated with each of said magazines and controlled by vertical movement of the bottle with respect to said capper head and actuated by rotatable movement of said capper head, for sequen tialliy feeding disk and protective caps into centered relation withrespect to said centering bell and said disk and protective capper units.

14. In a container capping device, a capping head having an inner disk capper unit mounted thereon for yieldable movement with respect thereto in a vertical direction and an outer coaxial protective capper unit mounted thereon for yieldable movement with respect thereto, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper unit and slidably guided in said protective capper unit and having a slot therethrough for receiving a disk cap, retaining means within said sleeve for retaining the disk caps in centered relation with respect to said disk capper unit, a centering bell yieldably mounted on said protective capper unit for yielding movement in a vertical direction and having a mouth opening in centered relation with respect to said disk and protective capper units, and also having a guide extending therealong for guiding a protective cap in centered relation with respect to said protective capper unit, the wall thereof being slotted, for receiving disk and protective caps, and individual feeding means for said disk and protective capper units for first feeding a disk cap through the slotted wall of said centeririg, bell into said disk cap retainer and then feeding a protective cap through the slotted wall of said centering bell along said guide into direct alignment with said protective capper unit.

15. In a container capping device, a capping head having an inner disk capper unit mounted thereon for yieldable movement with respect thereto in a vertical direction and an outer coaxial protective capper unit mounted thereon for yieldable movement with repect thereto, a cap retaining sleeve encircling said disk capper unit and slidably guided in said protective capper unit and having a slot' therethrough for receiving a disk cap, retaining means within said sleeve for retaining the disk caps in centered relation with respect to said disk capper unit, a centering bell yieldably mounted on said protective capper unit for yielding movement in a vertical direction and having a mouth opening in centered relation with respect to said disk and protective capper units, and also having a guide extending therealong for guiding a protective cap in centered relation with respect to said protective capper unit, the wall thereof being slotted, for receiving disk and protective caps, and individual feeding means for first feeding a disk cap through the slotted wall of said centering bell into said disk cap retainer and then feeding a protective cap through the slotted wall of said centering bell along said guide into direct alignment with said protective capper unit, a double peaked cam sequentially raising the bottle into capping engagement with said disk and protective capper units to effect the disk and protective capping operations, control means for said feeding means sequentially operated by vertical movement of the bottle at the peaks of said can and a second cam for sequentially operating said feeding means.

16. A container capping device comprising a single capping head for sequentially applying two different types of caps to a single container, a holder for the container, means for rotatably moving said capping head and holder, and other means operable by rotational movement of said holder to sequentially move said holder vertically and engage a container thereon with said capping head and apply a different kind of cap thereto during each sequence of vertical movement of said holder.

17. A container capping device comprising a single rotatable capping head having a downwardly opening centering bell, means operated by rotatable movement of said capping head for sequentially feeding disk and protective caps to said head, a container holder beneath said capping head in alignment with said centering bell, and other means sequentially moving said container holder vertically and the container thereon into registry with said centering bell and into engagement with said capping head to effect sequential capping thereof.

18. A container capping device comprising a base, a. capping head mounted on said base for rotatable movement with respect thereto, cam means on said base for sequentially feeding disk and protective caps to said capping head by rotatable movement of said capping head with respect to said base, a container holder mounted for rotatable movement with said capping head and for vertical movement with respect thereto, and other cam means on said base engaging said container holder and vertically moving said holder with respect to said capping head to sequentially engage a container thereon therewith and effect capping thereof with a disk cap during one sequence of vertical movement of said holder and a protective cap during a second sequence of vertical move ment of said holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 862,530 Zastrow Aug. 6, 1907 1,363,824 Tait Dec. 28, 1920 2,036,105 Strout Mar. 31, 1936 2,089,769 Strout Aug. 10, 1937 2,190,509 Baum Feb. 13, 1940 2,431,114 Golding Nov. 18, 1947 2,541,001 Vedder Feb. 6, 1951