US332582A - Bottle-washing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) v A. L. BERNARDIN'.

BOTTLE WASHING APPARATUS.

No. 332,582. Patented Dec. 15, 1885.4

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,582, dated December 15, 1885.

Application filed February 18, 1885. Serial No. 156,275. (No model To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, ALFRED L. BERNARDIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Tashing Apparatus, of which the following is a description.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved apparatus for cleansing the interior of bottles.

The leading feature of the invention is the projection of shot upward into the bottles, held inverted, simultaneously with the discharge of water into the same. The shot is projected by plungers that work in vertical cylinders, or guides, and are forced upward by spring-hammers arranged horizontally and actuated intermittently by suitable mechanism. rIhe latter consists, preferably, of a series of cams fixed on a rotating shaft, and arranged to engage with and depress the free ends of the spring-hammers at every rotation.

The invention embodies details of construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In accompanying drawings, Figure l is partly a sectional and partly an end view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a detail horizontal section, and Fig. 3 is a detail plan view. Fig. 4 represents the application of a device for spreading the shot.

The letter A indicates one of aseries of metal sockets or holders for the bottles to be cleaned. These holders are approximately bell or funnel shaped, the larger end being uppermost, and are set vertical on a table, B, each over an opening in the latter. The base or lower end of the holders A is provided with a horizontal iiange, a., that rests on the table and serves to support the former, and also with a boss or extension, b, that fits in said opening and is screw-threaded internally, to adapt it for connection with the shot-plunger cylinder @,Whose upper end is correspondingly screwthreaded exteriorly. A horizontal flange, c, is formed on the cylinder C, and when the latter is screwed into the bottle-holder A such ange is pressed against the under surface of the table B, around the edge of the opening therein. Thus both bottle-holder and plungercylinder are removably yet firmly secured to the table. Water inlet and outlet tubes d e are attached to the cylinder nearits upper end,'and on the lower side of the inlet-opening is formed a lip or upwardly-projecting flange that gives direction to the water-current. The latter is produced by any suitable waterimpclling device, or by connecting with the inlet a pipe leading to a water-reservoir having sufficient head for the purpose. The plunger E works freely in the cylinder C, and is cup-shaped on its upper side, to adapt it to hold all or a portion of the quantity of shot required to be projected into the bottle at each reciprocation. The plunger has a stem, that projects through the bottoni of cylinder` C, and has a conical nut or head, g, secured on its lower end. The stemf is encircled by a spiral spring, h,whieh aids gravity in bringing the plunger E downward after each upwardmovement.

My preferred means for driving the plu ngers E upward are springs or spring-hammers F, which are secured in a bar, G, and arranged horizontally, so that the free end of each is directly beneath and normally in contact with or adjacent to the head g of a plunger. Parallel to and directly in front of the free ends of the springs F is a rotary shaft, II, on which are fixed a number of cams, I, one opposite each spring. The cams may be single or double, as required, but in this instance they are double, so that each spring F will be depressed and released twicein each revolution of the shaft H. I arrange the cams in such order that they will act successively instead of simultaneously on the springs F. The bar G is adapted to rotate in its bearings,and provided at one end with a rigid arm, J, for shifting it around its axis, in orderlto throw the springs F downward out of range of contact with cams I, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. l. This arm .I is locked to a rigid portion, i, of the frame-B in either of the two positions required (for action or non-actiouf'of the appatus) by a pin or suitable catch, j. In case the bottles should be provided with a stopper ofthe kind illustrated in Fig. 1, it will cause the shot to diverge or spread in their upward iiight; but for bottles having no such stopper I propose to use a spreader,7 K, as shown IOO in Fig. 4. It is conicalin form on both upper and under side, so as to cause divergence of the shot both in passing upward and downward. It is attached to a stern or rod whose lower end is adapted for attachment at the ljunction of holder and cylinder C. Instead of the plunger working inside of the cylinder O, I may make it hollow and arrange it eXteriorly so as to iit over the cylinder.

A gasket of rubber is in practice applied on the upper end of the cylinderO, which forms a support or shoulder for the bottlenozzle.

Ihe operation ol' the apparatus is as fol` lows: The bottles it is desired to clean being placed in the holders A, as shown in Fig. l, the shaft H is set in rotation, and its cams I successively engage with and bear down the free ends of the spring-hammers F, which, on being released, deliver a smartand sudden blow upon the heads g of the plungers E, and drive the latter upward with such force and rapidity that, when arrested by the spiral springs h, the shot held in their cavities is projected into the bottles and against the bottoms thereof. So soon as the blow of the spring-hammer has been given, the latter resume their normal horizontal position, the shot also fall back into the plunger-cups, and the plungers themselves drop back to the bottom of the cylinders C, all in readiness to repeat the operation. Simultaneously with these movements water is being constantly forced up into and discharged from the bottle, asindicated by arrows.

1. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the colnbination, with a bottle-holder and a cylinder or plunger-guide placed below the latter, of a reciprocating plunger containing a quantity of shot and having a projecting` stem, substantially as shown and described, to operate as speciiied.

2. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the combination, with a bottle-holder, of a reciprocating plunger, a quantity of shot, and a device, substantially as described,` for forcing the plunger upward, substantially as specified.

3. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the combination of a spring-hammer and trippingcam with reciprocating plunger, the guidecylinder, and a bottle holder or support, substantially as specied.

4.. In a'bottle-washing apparatus, the combination of the funnel-shaped inverted bottleholder, the cylinder pendent beneath it, the shot-forcing plunger having a stem, f, having head g, a spiral spring encircling said stern, a spring-hammer arranged horizontally, and a tripping-cam, substantially as specified.

5. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the cylinder having the water-inlet with upwardly, projecting flange or lipand a water-outlet and the shot-forcing plunger working in said cylinder, all arranged as shown and described.

6. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the combination of the plunger, made recessed or cupshaped, the cylinder for guiding the same, anda bottle-holder, as shown and described.

7. In a bottle-washing apparatus, the combination ofthe spring-hammers with the cam-- shaft, a rotatable bar for holding the harn` mers, and a device, substantially as described, for locking it in different positions, substan-y tially as specified.

ALFRED L. BERNARDIN.

Vitnesses:

AMos W. HART, SoLoN C. KEMON.

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