US1507030A - Carton-capping mechanism - Google Patents

Description

2 W. R. REDD CARTON CAPPING MECHANISM Filed Dec. s1. 1921 s sheets-sheet ll W. R. REDD CARTON CAPPING MECHANISM Filed D60. 5l, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 www .H ww), A@

I @Ma/)Pal /gy/gmwj g sept. 2 1924. 1,507,030

W. R. REDD CARTON CAPPING MECHANI SM Filed nec. s1, 1921 5 sheets-sheet 5 Sept. 2 1924.

W. R. REDD CARTON CAPPING' MECHANISM Filed Dec. 51, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4- Sept. 2 1924. v 1,507,030

^ w. R. REDD CARTON CAPPING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 51. 1921 5 sheets-sheet 5 -f if g77 @SS Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

UNITED siarasY WILLIAM RUSSELL REDD, or OAK PARK, rL-Lrivorsi AssIeNoa To THE MoR'roN SALT PATENT OFFICE.

COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINIS, A CORPORATION OE' ILLINOIS.

CRTO N-CAPPING IVICHANISM. l

Application led December 31, 1921. Serial No. 526,343.

To all whom t 'may concern;

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM Russ-ELL REDD, a citizen of the United States, residing at vOak Fark, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Carton-Capping Mechanisms7 of which the following is a specification.

The mechanism of the present invention is designed as an attachment to a carton sealing machine of the character employed for the sealing of cartons containing salt or like granular substances. In certain carto-ns employed for such a purpose, it is customary to provide a small holeV or aperture in one end of the carton for the purpose `of affording an outlet for the granular contents thereof, so that the user may pour out the quanti-ty desired as occasion may require. In the past it has been customary to manually insert a small metallic. cap into the o-utlet aperture before the carto-n was placed on the sealer;

, and the object of the present invention is to provide automatic mechanism for applying such metallic caps, thereby dispensing with the services of several .operators and consequently reducing the cost of the filling operation. l

The present invention is built onto the sealing and folding mechanism in proper relation to the travelling carrier for the empty cartons and derives the power required for its voperation from the same source as that which supplies the powerfor the sealing machine, but it will be understood in the description of the. present invention that only so much of the sealing machine will be illustrated as is needful to afford a full understanding of the nature of the present invention.

In particular the present invention is directed to the hopper` which houses a supply of metallic caps, the chute or guide for directing the caps to the capping device, the

' means for transporting the caps one at a time from the chute to a point adjacent the orifice in the carton, to the means for forcing the cap into said orice,vto themeans for arresting the advance of the column of caps during the capping operation, to thesafety appliances for operating the machine idly during a cessation in the advance of the procession-of cartons and to the other operating Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the capping y mechanism g Fig. 4L is a longitudinalsectional elevation thereof showing the capping yhead in the delivery position, the sectioned portion being taken on line dof Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of the capping V mechanism;

Fig. 6 is va detail of the capping head mainly in sect-ion;

Fig. is a perspective view of the end of a carton with its cap inserted;

Fig. 8 .'s an inner yface detail-of the guide way for thecaps taken onl line 8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is an inner face detail sho-wing the stop pins for arresting the column of caps andthe safety mechanism for arresting the active operation o-f the machine when the advance of the procession of Acartons is stopped taken on line 9 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 is -a perspective view showing the trated'invFigs. 2 and 7, are stampedv from sheet metal to provide a circular dished body portion provided with an outwardly extend-` ingiiange k13 which caps are sup-plied from a hopper 14 mounted upon a vertical rock shaft 15 j ournaled at its lower end within a i socket head l'carried by a bracket arm 17 upstanding from the main frame of the machine.

The vhopper is provided with aconical base plate 18 which terminates slightly short of the cylindrical side wall of the hopper and thereby affords an annular groove or channel 19 of proper width and depth to re- Y eeive the caps in edgewise relation as `indicated in Fig. 2, but excludes the caps when lying in flatwise relation. Mostof the caps in sliding down the conical surface of the base plate will arrange themselves with the flanged or open side down and enter edgewise into the annular Agroove with the flanged or open side toward the center as indicated by the lower` cap in Fig. 2. This is the position which they must occupy in order to be discharged from the hopper and to permit their discharge, the bottom wall 2O of the hopper is provided on one side with a. discharge orifice 21. configured to permit only the properly positioned caps to fall through.

1n order to effect an agitation of the caps in the hopper the rock shaft is provided with an outstanding crank arm 22 which receives motion from a link 23 eccentrically carried by .a disk 24 mounted upon a transmission shaft 25 adapted to receive power from any suitable source. rFhis arrangement serves to impart a short sharp vibratory movement to the hopper which serves to shake the caps and cause them to arrange themselves in edgewise relation within the annular channel. In order to take care of any caps which fall into the channel lace out as indicated at the top of Fig. 2, a

' second orifice 26 like the orifice 2l is provided, but bein arranged in opposite relation thereto wil prevent the discharge of the properly adjusted caps which can only find exit through the orice 21.

IThe mal-adjusted caps falling through the orifice 2G are collected in a box or can 2T from which they may be again poured into the hopper.

The orifice 2l registers with a flattened slightly flexible chute 28 the upper end of which vibrates with the hopper, which chute receives the caps in column form and in edgewise relation and conveys them down to a guide-way 29 formed in the face of a vertically disposed guide plate 30 upstand ing from a standard 31 (see Fig. S) which springs Yfrom a base plate 32 suitably supported upon the bed 33 of the machine. The front of' the guide plate 30 is covered by a closing plate 34 provided in its face with a vertically disposed slot 35 through which the column of caps is exposed as indicated in Fig. 8.

The progress of the column of caps is regulated by the means of upper stop pins 36 and the lower stop pins 37 (see Fig. 4) which pins are in vertical alignment with one another and operate in alternation through the vertical slot 35 against the caps which are exposed open side forward to the action of the pins. That is to say7 when the lower pin is advanced as indicated in Fig. 4, the entire column is arrested but with the subsequent advance of the upper pin 36 and the concurrent recession of the lower )in the lowermost ca) will be tree to 'fall through the Guide-wa until 1t is b C y engaged by a capping head 38 carried by aswinging arm 39 presently to be described.

The pin 36 is carried by an upper cross head 40 (see Figs. 4 and 9) and the pin 37 by a lug 4l depending from a lower cross head 42. The upper cross head is carried by a pair of spaced guide rods 43 and the lower cross head byv a similar pair of spaced guide rods 44 (see Figs. 4 and 9), both pairs of guide rods being slidably mounted within a guide block 45 which rests upon and is supported by the center frame 45 of the machine. rlhe upper guide rods at their rear end are connected by a rear upper cross head 47 and the lower guide rods by a similar rear cross head 48, each of which cross heads in its center is provided with a pair ot ears 49 between which pairs of ears are mounted anti-friction rollers 50 which bear against upper and lower cams 51 and 52 respectively mounted in opposite relation upon a cam shaft 53, so that as the upper pin is advanced the lower pin will be withdrawn and vice versa. Only the projection of the pins is effected by the cams, the return movements being effected by the action of coil springs 54 which surrounds the guide rods and are interposedI between the guide blocks 45 and the respective upper and lower rear cross heads 47 and 4S.

The capping head 38, which is best shown in Fig. 6, is in the form of av cylindrical block of substantially the flange diameter of one of the caps, and the capping head when in raised position presents its flat face vertically to the Jfalling caps which latter are caught by an undercut .finger 55 which engages the cap flange at its loweredge. A steel ball 55 protruding from a bore 5i' and backed by a spring 58 serves to exert the necessary spring pressure against the Jforward face of the cap flange to hold the same in engagement with the capping head while the latter is swung down into a position to register with the hole iu the carton to be capped. The capping head is carried by a swinging arm 39 (see Fig. 4) which arm is socketed in a swinging block 60 carried by trunnions 6i within a yoke frame 62 the head 63 of'which has fitted thereinto a vertical guide stem 64 which passes through the cross head 65 of the main trame 46 and through the guide block 45 being guided therein for vertical reciprocation..

The sides of the main frame are provided with vertically elongated slots 6G which serve as guides for the reciprocation of the trunnions 61, and the inner trunnion (Si, as shown in Fig. 3, has rigidly mounted thereon a disk 67 which carries an eccentrically disposed crank pin 68 carrying an antiefriceffected by means of a roller 72 which is car- -lll ried on a. stud 73 -entered into the rear cross wall 74 of the-yoke (see Fig. 4) and disposed at right angles to the upper cross head. The roller is moved vertically by the action of the cam head 75 which carries a peripheral cam flange 76 having an easy cam fac-e 77 and an abrupt cam face 78 as best shown in Fig. 3, which cam head is carried upon the cam shaft 53. This arrangement affords an easy uplifting or return movement to the yoke and the capping head carried thereby and a somewhat abrupt down movement of these parts, which latter is effected by the tension of a pair of springs 79. the upper ends of which are secured to a cross bai 80 carried by the stein 64, the lower ends of the springs being secured to the .side walls of the main frame on opposite sides thereof.

ln order to insure a positive gripping of the caps by the capping head 38, the caps are forced into engagement thereby by means now to be described. The standard 31 which supports the chute, is provided with a vertical slot 81 (see Fig. 4) which slot affords clearance for the action of a finger 82 which is mounted upon a pivot 83 carried by a yoke 84 supported forever,- tical reciprocation upon the lower end of a stem 85 mounted within a i guide lug 86 which projects rearwardly fromthe standard 31, the upper end of the stem being encircled by a coil spring 87 which bears against a nut 88 to eHect a liftingmoveinent of the-yoke and parts carried thereby.

The mounting for the iinger 82 is provided with a tail piece 89 which is so positioned on its downward movement that it will engage a spring supported stop-pin 90 carried by a lug 91 and to engage an oppositely disposed upper pin 92 on its return movement. The arrangement is such that as the yoke is moved downwardly, the tail piece will b-e engaged by the lower pin and the finger 82 will be swung downwardly through the slot 81 and against the lowermost cap previously released `by the pin 37 thereby positively forcing the'cap downwardly and into engagement with the capping head, which positive action is necessary, since gravity cannot safely be relied upon to carry the released cap to the desired position. The up and down movements of the mechanism just described are effected through thev medium of a lever 93 which is pivoted at its rear end to the yoke 84 and is fulcrumed at an intermediate point 94 to the rear side wall f the main frame, being provided at its forward endwith an inwardly extending roller 95 adapted to ride upona cam fiange 96 vcarried by the cam shaft. The pivotal action between the arm 93 and the yoke 84 is designed to aiford the necessary lost motion to accommodate the arcuate movement of the lever to the reciprocating movement ofthe yoke.

When the filled cartons are passing the capping point in uninterrupted sequence, each movement of the capping head will result in the discharge of a cap, but incase the procession of cartons-.is interrupted, it`

becomes necessary to provide means yfor arresting the further down fiow of the column of caps. For this purpose, the following mechanism is provided.

The lower cross head 42 at one end thereof is provided with a short depending flange 97 (see Figs. 3, 9, and 11) which terminates short of the depending lug 41 which carries the lower stop pin and behind this flange, when the cross head 42 is advanced, the upper end of a stop lever 98 is adapted to swing. vAs indicated in full lines in Fig. 9, when the upper end of the lever--is stopped in an intermediate position behind the flange 97, it will prevent the retraction of the cross head with its lower in 37, so that the release of caps in the colloumn will be arrested. In the normal operation of the machine, the stop lever will, on each actuation, swing through its complete arc of movement in timed relation to the advance andfrecession of the cross head, so that no arresting thereof will be effected. I

The inner limit of movement is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 9 and the outer and inner movement is limited by means of a flanged guide piece 99 carried byl a stem 100 entered into the main frame. The stop lever 98 is mounted upon a rock shaft 101 carried by a journal bearing 102 secured to the base of the standard 31v and this rock shaft, at an intermediate position, carries a trip finger r103 which, when the capping head 38 is empty, is designed to freely swing across the face thereof after its return move-i ment without being arrested. If, however, the capping head should return from one of its excursions `without discharging its cap, the trip finger will strike the body of the cap held by the capping hea-d and be arrested at such a point as to hold the stop lever 98 in posi-tion behind the iange 97 of the cross head 42, so that the latter cannot return to its releasing` position.

As shown in Fig. 8, the rock shaft 101 is rocked by means of an actuating arm 104 which is outwardly curved at its upper end 105 and is adapted to be engaged by a bowed spring 106 which is lsecured to the side of the vertically movable yoke 84, so that each movement of the yoke will serve to impart a corresponding movement to the rock shaft 101 sufficient to effect an out throw of the stop lever 98 to its limit of movement thereby bringing the latter to a position in which it will not obstruct the return movement of the lower cross head. lhen the yoke 84, is lifted, the rock sha-ft will be given an inward rotation through the tension of the spring 10i' secured to the stop lever 98 (see Fig. 9), and this movement will normally be sufficient to ensure a. com- `plete inward swing ot the stop lever 98 unless the movement is arrested by thc presence. of an undischarged cap on the capping head, the swing of these parts being timed to precede the recession of the lower cross head. lf the lower stop pin 37 be not released, the finger 82 will strike against an immovable cap so that as the tail piece 89 engages the spring supported lower pin 910 (see Fig. 3) the continued movement or" the yoke 8l will resultin a depression of the lower stop pin 90 which is spring supported to allow Jfor these conditions.

The cam shatt is provided at its end with a bevel pinion 108 which meshes with a bevel pinion 109 carried by a power shaft 110 journaled in a bracket 111 secured to the base of the machine. in any suitable manner and the speed of rotation ot the power shaft will be in timed relation to the travel of the carriers which bring the cartons respectively in capping position.

Fig. 1 illustrates the general relation oit the capping mechanism to the carton carrying mechanism which latter, however, forms no portion of the present invention and will bev but briefly referred to.

Each filled carton is supported upon a carrier 112 mounted upon a suitable conveyor 113 in position to bring the discharge orifice of the carton, at the proper moment, immediately below the capping head when in its lowered position as indicated in Fig. l. Each carton 113L is provided with a pair of flaps lll the rearnrost of which, in the line of advance, is provided with an aperture 115 to receive the cap. As the carton approaches the capping mechanism, the forward flap is pressed down by enga-gement with a shoe 115a and the rear or apertured flap is pressed down by the action of a swinging arm 116 having a presser finger 117 at its lower end. The arm 116 is carried by a link 118 actuated by a lever 119 the movements of which link are controlled by a roller 120 traveling in a runway 121 on the upper end of a bracket arm 122. The relation of these parts is such that as the lever 119 is swung inwardly, the end of the link will ride upwardly and swing the arm 116 with sufficient speed to over-take the advancing carton and strike down the rearmost flap into the position indicated in dotted lines before the flap reaches the point of engagement with the shoe 115% The carton with its-flaps folded down will i then advance at a predetermined rate of speed to the capping point simultaneously with the down swing of the capping head, so that the body of the cap will engagethe aperture in the flap at the proper moment and be drawn forward therewith and released from the capping head by the advance of the carton. The cap, after insertion, is firmly pressed in place by the action of a presser plate 123 at the rea-r of the machine which is pivoted to a plate 12A and backed by a spring 125.

The operation of the machine may be suinniarized as follows: The hopper' is filled with the caps and the mechanism thrown into operation. A short sharp vibrating movement will be imparted to the hopper so that the caps therein contained will be agitated and caused to slide downwardly in flatwise relation upon the surface otl the conical hopper bottom. Most of the caps will lie open face downward upon the conical surface due to the natural tendency of a body to rest upon its larger face. The caps thus positioned will work downl into the annular peripheral groove and those which are properly positioned will be discharged in column form into the chute 28 and travel down until arrested by either the upper or lower stop pins which in alternate relation advance to and recede from the stopping position.

As a cap is released by the recession lof the lower stop pin the linger 82 will descend and strike down the cap until caught by the finger on the capping head. Simultaneously with these operations the upper stop pin 36 will advance to momentarily arrest the col umn of caps until the capping` head begins to return to its receiving position. A cap clamped to its face will swing downwardly through the action of the roller 69 inthe Lshaped groove and the curve is so cone figured as to give to the capping head a swinging or arcuate movement until it has reached a position. immediately above the capping point after which'the movement of the capping head terminates in a short straight vertical thrust which is timed to meet the advancing carton at the proper instant of time.

The cap being inserted in the carton will be drawn away from the capping head, and the latter will then be returned to its rceei ving position. It a carton should be absent at the proper moment, the capping head will swing back still carrying the cap and in these circumstances, the body of the cap will obstruct the free movement of the trip finger 103 so that the stop lever 98 will be arrested llO in position to prevent the return movement of the lower stop finger 37 thereby stopping the down flow of the column of caps through the chute until the procession of cartons again begins to arrive at the capping position. During such period of rest the capping mechanism will operate idly so that no attention from the operator is required.

The capping mechanism is one which may be applied to any kind of a machine which serves to bring the cartons to capping position in regularly timed sequence, and although, defined as a machine for applying caps to cartons, is obviouslyadapted to ai ply caps or plugs to any box or sheet which is perforated after the manner of a carton.

The operating mechanisms are. all timed by the arrangement of the cams carried by the cam shaft so that perfect timing at a rapid rate is assured. The safety stop mechanism heretofore described prevents any jamming of the machine and insures against a waste of caps when the capping function is suspended for the time being. The machine may be operated without any attention whatsoever save that required Yin occasionally filling the hopper with caps which need only be filled at comparatively unfrequent intervals. The machine is rugged in construction and can be operated at an expenditure of but a slight amount of power and without requiring that the cartons be stopiped in their forward travel during the capping operation.

I claim:

l. A cappingmachine comprising a chute adapted to receive a column of caps, a cap-I ping head mounted to move from the chute to the` capping point and conveycaps one at a time to the. capping point, stop mechanism adapted to arrest the advance of the column of caps during the capping operation, and safety appliances adapted to be actuated by the presence of an undelivered cap to con-v tinue the arresting action of the stop mechanism when the capping head returns toreceiving position with an undelivered cap, substantially as described.

2. A capping machine comprising a chute adapted to receive a column of caps, a capping head mounted to swing from the chute to the capping point Vand convey caps one at a time to the capping point, stop mechanism adapted to arrest the advance of the column of caps during the capping operation, and safety appliances adapted to be actuated by the presence of an undelivered cap to continue the arresting action of the stop mechanism when the capping head returns to receiving position with an undelivered cap, substantially as described.

3. A capping machine comprising a chute adapted to receive a column of caps, a capping head mounted to move from the chute to the capping point and convey caps one at a time to the capping point, stop mechanism i safety appliances adapted to continue the arresting act-ion of the stop mechanism when the capping head returns to receiving position with an undelivered cap, said mechanism being controlled by engagement of a part thereof with said undeliveredcap carried by the capping head, substantially as described.

4L. A capping machine comprising a chute adapted to receive a column of caps, a capping head mounted to swing from the chute to the capping point and convey caps one at a time to the capping poing-stop mechanism adapted to arrest the advance of the column of caps during the capping operation, and safety appliances adapted to continue; the arresting action of thestop mechanism when the capping head returns to receiving position with an undelivered cap, said mechanism beingcontrolled by engagement of a part thereof with said undelivered cap carried by lthe capping head, substantially as described. y

5. In a capping machine the combination of a hopper adaptedto arrange caps in edgewise relation, a chute adapted to receive the caps in edgewise relation from the hopper 'i and convey the same in column form, a capping head mounted to move to receiving position in line with the column of caps and provided with means for engaging and holding a cap in face-wise relation to the capping head, means for forcing the caps into engagement with the head, means for lmoving the capping head fromreceiving tocapping position, alternately acting stop pins for releasing the column of caps one at a time to position to be engaged 'by the capping head, and safety mechanism adapted to continue the arresting action of oneof the stop pins when `the capping .head returns to receivingposition with an undis-` charged cap, said mechanism i including a member adapted to engage such undischarged cap and thereby bring the mechanism into action, substantially as described.

.6. In a capping machine the combination of a hopper adapted to arrange leaps in edgewise relation, a chute adapted t0 receive the caps in edge-wise relation from the hopper and convey the same in column form, a capping head mounted to move to receiving position in line with the column of caps and provided with means for engaging and holding a cap in face-wise relation tothe capp-ing head, means for forcing the ca-ps into engagement withthe head, and means for moving the capping head from receiving to capping position, the cap engaging kmeans being adapted to permit the removal nately acting stop pins vtor releasing the column ot caps one at a time to position to be engaged by the capping head, and safety mechanism adapted to continue the arresting action of one of the stop pins when the capping head returns to receiving position with an undischarged cap, said mechanism including a member adapted to engage such undischarged cap and thereby bring the mechanism into action, substantially as described.

7. In capping mechanism the combination of a guide for the caps, a swinging capping head adapted when in receiving position to register with the cap guide and provided with a hooked finger adapted to en- Orage one edge of a cap and hold the capv in face-wise relation to the capping head, and means for swinging the capping head from receiving` to discharging position, substantially as described. Y

8. In capping mechanism the combination of a guide for caps, a capping head, a mounting for the capping head provided with trunnions, a vertically movable yoke through which the trunnions are journaled, means for vertically moving the yoke, means for turning the trunnions and swinging the capping head concurrently with the vertical movement of the yoke to carry the capping head from a position registering with the cap guide to the capping position, alternately acting stop pins adjacent the cap guide for controlling the passage of caps therethrough in timed relation to the movements of the capping head, a safety mechanism adapted to hold the stop mechanism in stopping position when the cap-ping head returns to receiving position with an undischarged cap, said mechanism including a member adapted to engage with such undischarged cap on the capping head, substantially as described.

9. In capping mechanism the combination of a guide for caps, a capping head, a mounting for the capping head provided with trunnions, a vertically movable yoke through which the trunnions are journaled, means for vertically moving the yoke, means for turning the trunnions and swinging the capping head concurrently with the vertical movement of the yoke to carry the capping head from a position registering with the cap guide to. the capping position means for forcing the caps one at a time into engagement with the capping head when in re-y ceiving position, alternately acting stop pins adjacent the cap guide for cont-rolling the passage of caps therethrough in timed relation to the movement of the capping head, a safety mechanism adapted to iold the stop mechanism in stopping position when the capping head returns to receiving position with an undischarged cap, said mechanism including a member adapted to engage with such undischarged cap on the capping head, substantially as described.v

l0. In capping mechanism the combina-` tion of a capping head, a mounting there for, trunnions on the mounting, a yoke through which the trunnions are journaled, means for reciprocating the yoke, a member carried eccentrically by one of the trunnions, and a member provided with a slot for engaging said eccentrically mounted member to impart rotation yto the trunnions and a swinging movement to the capping head as a resultant of reciprocating movements imparted to the yoke, substantially as described.

1l. In a capping machine the combination of a guide for caps, a movablecapping head adapted to transport caps from the guide to the capping point, means for forcing the caps one at a time into engagement with the capping head, said means comprising a pivoted finger and a reciprocable mounting therefor, the linger being positioned to strike down the caps within the guide-way and being provided with a `tail piece and a member adapted to be engaged by said tail piece and to effect a movement of the linger, substantially as described.

12. In a capping machine the combination of a guide for caps, a capping head movablefrom receiving position in register with the guide to capping position, slidablyi mounted upper and lower 'stop fingers, for

controlling the progress of caps through' the guide, a swinging stop member adapted normally to swing back and forth to'position to clear the mounting for one of the stop ngers, and means associated with said swinging member and adapted to engage with an undelivered cap carried by the capping head on its return movement and by' such engagement to arrest the swinging stop member in position to'prevent movement ot the stop pin, substantially as described.

W'. RUSSELL REDD.

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