US3195373A

US3195373A - Indexing mechanism for paper cup machines

Info

Publication number: US3195373A
Application number: US301047A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harland S Fisher
Original assignee: United States Envelope Co
Current assignee: United States Envelope Co
Priority date: 1963-08-09
Filing date: 1963-08-09
Publication date: 1965-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 1982-07-20

Description

July 20, 1965 H. s. FISHER 3,195,373

INDEXING MECHANISM FOR PAPER CUP MACHINES Filed Aug. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HARLAND .S. FISHER INVENTOR.

AGENT.

July 20, 1965 H. s. FISHER 3,195,373

INDEXING MECHANISM FOR PAPER CUP MACHINES Filed Aug. 9, 1963 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HARLAND S. FISHER INVENTOR.

BYW

AGENT.

3,195,37 3 INDEXING MECHANISM FOR PAPER CUP MACHINES Harland S. Fisher, Longmeadow, Mass., assignor to United States Envelope Company, Springfield, Mass, a corporation of Maine Filed Aug. 9,1963, Ser. No. 301,047 2 Claims. (Cl. 74-822) This invention relates generally to paper cup machines or the like, and more specifically this invention relates to work-carrying turrets for such machines in work pieces carried at adjacent stations thereon are to be successively positioned and held at a work-performing station for a short duration of time while some sort of operation is performed on the work piece.

Specific application of a machine according to this invention may be found where partially completed cups are successively brought into position to be operated on by apparatus such as a rim-curling tool. A rotatable turret is commonly provided with one or more cup receivers which conform generally to the shape of a cup, and are adapted to receive a partially completed cup and hold it therein while the rim is formed around the open end of the cup. The rim-forming tool is stationary with respect to rotation about the axis of the turret. Although the rim-forming tool as shown and described herein is of the spinning type, this invention is also applicable in cases where the rim-forming tool is of the stationary cold forming type. The turret is rotated intermittently such that at the completion of each movement, a different United States Patent receiver is positioned, relative to the location of the sta tionary rim-forming tool, so that the cup carried thereby is in the correct position to be operated on by the rimforming tool.

When a rim-forming tool is brought in working contact with a cup, it is highly desirable that the centerline there of is in alignment with the centerline of the cup receiver with absolute preciseness. When the centerline of the receiver is not positioned previsely in alignment with the centerline of the rim-forming tool, the resulting lack of symmetry in the curled rim is unsightly, and even more important, causes lack of strength and rigidity in the cup. For example, it can readily be seen from the drawings of Loeser Patent No. 3,065,677 that a serious loss of uniformity in the rim of the cup would occur if the centerline of the cup receiver were not precisely in alignment with the centerline of the rim-forming tool. Other types of rim-forming tools are likewise dependent upon I precise alignment of the centerline of the cup receiver with the centerline of a stationary tool.

Although various means for intermittently rotating the turret so that adjacent receivers are brought into Working position beside the rim-forming tool, such as for example, cams, ratchets, etc., one of the most common of such drives is the Geneva gear drive, designed to intermittently rotate the turret, from a constantly rotating drive, through an angle equal to the angle between two adjacent receivers carried thereon, the Geneva gear being designed, of course, such that receiver stops will locate the centerline of each receiver as close is is practically possible to the centerline of the rim-forming tool. The Geneva gear also serves to hold the turret fast during the stop periods while a cup is being operated on. However, it is generally known that in conventional drives for turrets such as Geneva gears, it is extremely diflicult to maintain precision positioning of the turret because of wear in the drive system.

It is, therefore, a main object of the present invention to provide means for accurately aligning the centerlines of the cup receivers, during the stop periods of the "ice turret, with the centerline of the stationary rim-forming tool, so that the work which is to be performed on the cups may be performed as symmetrically as mechanically possible. This invention, in its application to paper cup machines, provides improved means for forming curled rims at the end of paper cups by means of precise alignment of the work piece carried by the turret with the rimforming tool.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a portion of a paper cup making machine, illustrating the novel features of the present invention and their relationship to such paper cup making machines.

FIGURE 2 is a section view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a partial section view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a partial section view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a graphical illustration of a four-place rotatable turret and a stationary Work-performing tool, with only the centerlines of each being illustrated.

Referring especially to FIGURE 1 in which a portion of a cup-making machine is illustrated, rotatable turret 10 is provided with several angularly spaced work holding stations, or cup receivers 12 adapted to receive and hold cups 14 by vacuum or other suitable means. Means are provided for intermittently rotating the turret 10, each rotation thereof being effective to successively bring a receiver 12 and the cup 14 carried thereby into axial register with a tool for performing some operation thereon, which in this case is illustrated to be a rim-forming or curling tool 16. As each successive receiver 12 is stopped adjacent the rim-forming tool 16, a leading receiver is discharging a cup whose rim has just been formed, and a trailing receiver is receiving a cup which is to subsequently have its rim formed, resulting in a continuous handling of cups by the turret 10.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, four receivers 12 (which could be more or less) are spaced apart around a circular line 18, having its center coinciding with the axis of the turret 10, as best shown in FIGURE 6. The axes of the four receivers are illustrated at

points

20, 22, 24, and 26, and the axis of the rim-forming tool 16 is located at 28. It is readily seen that the rim-forming tool 16 is located relative to the turret 10 such that if the centerline 28 is extended in the direction of the turret 10, the centerline 28 will intersect a point on the circle 18. This point ofintersection represents a position where it is desired to stop each of the axes 2t), 22, 24, and 26, to perform the rim-forming operation on the cup 12. The turret, then, is rotated 90 intermittently, each rotary movement being effective to successively locate

points

20, 22, 24, and 26 as near as possible to an aligned position with respect to the axis 28, to bring the cup 14 carried by each receiver 12 into work performing position, i.e., into register with the rim-forming tool 16.

Each time the turret 10 moves a new cup-carrying receiver 12 into the work performing position, the rimforming tool 16 is brought into working contact with the rim of the cup 14 extending out of the receiver 12. The rim-forming tool 16 and the gear 30 to which it is fixed, both rotate freely on shaft 32 which is slidable longitudinally in frame 34. Shaft 33 is driven from a power source (not shown) and gear 36 meshes with gear 30, thereby imparting a spinning motion to the rimforming tool 16. Rim-forming tool 16 is adapted for axial movement towards and away from the cup receiver 12. The periods of stop between the intermittent 90 rotations of the turret it are just long enough for cam 4i), which is rotated in synchronism with the turret 10, to move the shaft 32 axially towards the turret to bring the tool 16 into working contact with a cup 14 to form the rim, and subsequently to move shaft 32 axially away from turret '10 to' withdraw the tool 16 from contact with the cup to wait for the cup in the next receiver. 7

Probably the most common means for intermittently rotating the turret 10 "so that the'receivers 12 are successively brought into work preformingposition-is the Geneva gear system, illustrated generally at 42 in FIG- URE 1. The manner inwhich const'antrotational motion is converted into intermittent rotational movement by Geneva gears is so well known that a description thereof is not deemed necessary. In the machine described herein, the Geneva gears are designed to inter-' mittently rotate the drive shaft 44 ninety degrees. Wheel 46 is keyed to drive shaft 44, and transmits therota tional movement imparted to it by shaft 44, to turret it), which is free to rotate about shaft 44, through locking tongue-and-groove-like couplings denoted generally at 43. In providing intermittent rotation to the turret 10 from a Geneva gear drive system in the past, difiiculty has been encountered in insuring absolute' registration between the axis of the receivers 12 and the tool 16. It is very expensive to machine the parts of the Geneva gears to run with the precision necessary to form the small rim on the cups. Moreover, wear of the mating parts of the Geneva gears would result in loss of precision positioning of the output shaft of the Geneva gears, even if it was practical to machine the gears to the required de gree of precision. Also, locking dogs which'have been used in some instances in' the past to lock the turret in stop position are of no benefit in the precise positioning of the turretunless the output shaft of the gears has play when it is in a stop position. Play maybe de-I signed into the gears, or may becaused by excessive wear. However, in any case where there is'play, the gears pound themselves out in a relatively short time and have to be replaced. in the present invention, these disadvantages are overcome, andprecision positioning of the turret after each rotation is accomplished by means which will now be described.

Each ofthe locking couplings 48 comprise opposed, interlocking male and female elements 50 and 52, respectively. As shown in the drawings, the male elements 581 are rigidly mounted to the wheel 46, and the female elements 52 are rigidly mounted to the turret 10. The. male elementsSlD are wedge shaped, and the female ele ments 52 are simularly' tapered such that surface con tact occurs along the mating parts when the wheel 4-6 is at its closest axial position to the turret 10. The turret 163, as previously mentioned, is free for rotation about drive shaft 44, but axial movement is prevented by suitable thrust bearings or the like (not shown). Driving wheel 46, being keyed to shaft 44, is free for axial movement along shaft 44, and is normally urged by spring 54 towards turret 10 such that the locking couplings 48 are fully engaged. Hence, turret it) may be loosened from driving wheel 46 :by axial divergence of the driving wheel 46 with respect to turret 10.

Provided aroundthe periphery of turret 10 are a series of angularly spaced notches 56, each-being positioned in a predetermined manner with respect to a particular receiver 12. Each time the turret it) is rotated, a new receiver is brought as close as feasible into work preforming position, and its corresponding notch is likewise placed in position to be engaged by plunger 58. The plunger 58 and any particular notch 56 are so designedand located in relation to the receiver corresponding to that particular notch that when the plunger 58 is fully engaged with the notch, the corresponding receiver will be precisely in alignment with the rim-forming tool 16, or in other words, one of the receiver axes 20, 22, v

I piston 62 vpushes the plunger 58 radially inward in relation to turret 1t), and just prior to the turret 1%) beginning its next movement, air piston 62 withdraws plunger 58 radially outward in relation to the turret 1%).

The essence of the present invention lies inshifting the control over theposition of the turret it from the conventional driving means, such as Geneva gears, to a precision'alignment mechanism during 'thestop period of the turret. Such .an arrangement is advantageous ecause exact precision in the Geneva gears is no longer necessary, a certain amount of wear inthe' gear is permissive, and no undesirable play need be designed into the gear.

Control over the regular position of the turret 1% is shiftedgradually away from the drive of the Geneva gear, by moving wheel &6 axially away from the turret it} as the plunger 53 enters the notch 56. In moving radially inwardly of the turret 10,-and into notch 56, the cam 74 of plunger 53 presses against roller 76 of the yoke-like lever 64. Lever 64 is an annular member surrounding the periphery of wheel 46, and is pivoted at 66 to the frame 34. Lever 64 is provided with two rollers 63 and-70 located 180 apart and each being located from pivot point 66, which protrude. radially inward of the lever into a continuous circumferential groove '72 of the wheel 46. Pivoting of lever 64 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 1 causes rollers 68 and 7@ to bear against the side" of the groove 72 in the wheel 46 and diverge it axially from turret 10 against the action ofspring 54.

The tapered side 74 of plunger 58, acting as a cam against roller 76 of yoke 64 when theplunger 5S begins to enter a notch 56, gradually forces the yoke 64 to pivot about 66.- Pivoting of the yoke 64 in this manner, axially separates the driving wheel 46' from turret 10, thereby loosen-ing thecouplings 48. Simultaneously as these coupling members are loosened, the Wedge shaped end of plunger 58 entering a notch 56 gently corrects the angular position of the turret It) 'With the tool 16, precisely aligning the axis of thecorresponding receiver with the tool 16. Further inward radial movement of the plunger 58' causes the coupling members 48 to further loQsen, allowing for further angular positioning of the turret 1t until absolutely precisepositioning and locking of turret 10 by plunger 58 has occured at full engagement of the plunger 58 with the notch 56, At the same time, the greatest loosening of the turret It at the couplings 48 is accomplished. Theoperation is, reversed during withdrawal of the plunger 58 from the notcl156. During a stop period of the turret It control-thereover is actually transferred gradually from the Geneva gear system over to the precise alignment plunger-notch system. Turret 10 is at all times maintained under. complete control. Advantages'of conventional drive systems are realized, while at the same time, precise positioning means may be utilized in conjunction therewith.

I claim: p 1. In a rotary work-carrying mechanism, in combination,

(a) a turret having a series of angularly'spaced work holding stations and a series of angularly spaced peripheral notches; each ofsaid notches being positioned in a predetermined manner with respect to a particular work holding station,- said notches having opposite side surfaces converging in a depthwise direction, Y (b) a rigid framemember adjacent'said turret,

(c) .a plunger reciprocally mounted in said frame, said plunger having an end with tapered opposite sides substantially matching the sides of said notches and a side shaped to form a cam,

(d) means for intermittently rotating said turret to looate successive notches in position to he engaged by said plunger,

(e) a normally locked coupling connecting said rotating means with said turret,

(t) a lever for unlocking said coupling extending into operational engagement with the cam on said plunger,

(g) means for driving said plunger into engagement with a notch on said turret between periods of rotation thereof,

(h) said cam operating to loo-sen said locking coupling during entry of said plunger into a notch and to reengage said locking coupling during Withdrawal from the notch.

Z. In a rotary Work carrying mechanism, in combination,

(d) a driving wheel slightly spaced from said turret and in axial alignment therewith, said wheel having a continuous circumferential groove,

(e) a series of angularly spaced, tapered, tongue-andgroove-like coupling members connecting the facing sides of said turret and said driving wheel,

(f) a drive shaft connected to said driving wheel, said driving wheel being axially slidable on said drive shaft, 7

(g) a spring acting on the hub of said driving wheel to hold it in operational engagement with said turret by means of said coupling members,

(h) means for intermittently rotating said drive shaft,

(i) a yoke-like member surrounding said driving wheel having two element substantially 180 apart eX- tending inwardly thereof into operational engagement with the groove of said driving wheel, and having a portion spaced substantially from said elements in operational engagement with said cam and a pivot point angularly spaced substantially 90 from said elements opposite said portions in engagement with said cam, and I (3') means for driving said plunger radially inwardly of said turret during stopperiods thereof.

liteterences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,437,207 3/48 Noxon 192-67 2,874,595 2/59 Foster 74*822 3,136,168 6/64 Matovich 74125.5

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A ROTARY WORK-CARRYING MECHANISM, IN COMBINATION, (A) A TURRET HAVING A SERIES OF ANGULARLY SPACED WORK HOLDING STATIONS AND A SERIES OF ANGULARLY SPACED PERIPHERAL NOTCHES, EACH OF SAID NOTCHES BEING POSITIONED IN A PREDETERMINED MANNER WITH RESPECT TO A PARTICULAR WORK HOLDING STATION, SAID NOTCHES HAVING OPPOSITE SIDE SURFACES CONVERGING IN A DEPTHWISE DIRECTION, (B) A RIGID FRAME MEMBER ADJACENT SAID TURRET, (C) A PLUNGER RECIPROCALLY MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME, SAID PLUNGER HAVING AN END WITH TAPERED OPPOSITE SIDES SUBSTANTIALLY MATCHING THE SIDES OF SAID NOTCHES AND A SIDE SHAPED TO FORM A CAM, (D) MEANS FOR INTERMITTENTLY ROTATING SAID TURRET TO LOCATE SUCCESSIVE NOTCHES IN POSITION TO BE ENGAGED BY SAID PLUNGER, (E) A NORMALLY LOCKED COUPLING CONNECTING SAID ROTATING MEANS WITH SAID TURRET, (F) A LEVER FOR UNLOCKING SAID COUPLING EXTENDING INTO OPERATIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CAM ON SAID PLUNGER, (G) MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID PLUNGER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH A NOTCH ON SAID TURRET BETWEEN PERIODS OF ROTATION THEREOF, (H) SAID CAM OPERATING TO LOOSEN SAID LOCKING COUPLING DURING ENTRY OF SAID PLUNGER INTO A NOTCH AND TO REENGAGE SAID LOCKING COUPLING DURING WITHDRAWAL FROM THE NOTCH.