US2015913A - Bottle capping machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 1, 1935. R. w. VON SYDOW ET AL 2,015,913

I I BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE v Filed Oct. 26, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I 18 2 18a j JNVENY'OPS EUDOLF m VON smoW EDWARD J M 001 1, 1935- R. w. VON SYDOW EIYAL 2,015,913

I BOTTLE CAgPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 26, 1952 s Sheets-Sheet 2 3 5 INVENTORY JPUDOLF WMVO/V sypon EDWARD 0]. M 00) I /11 BY 4 ATTORNEY Oct. 1, 1935. R w, VON SYDOW T AL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 26, 1932 5 Sheets-Shet 3 SW @%W m ryw F MSM 0 W WM A Fwy w A 4 W Patented Oct; 1, 1935 PATENT GFFlCE BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Rudolf W. von Sydow and Edward J; McCoy,

Saginaw, Mich., assignors to Apex Paper Products Corporation, Saginaw, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application October 26, 1932, Serial No. 639,644

6 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle capping mechanisms. It pertains to a new and useful cap afiixing device that can be used as an attachment for a bottle filling machine, or it may be embodied in 1 a separate machine. I

In our co-pending application, Serial No. 599,468, there is shown and described a bottle cap of heavy paper, blanked out and pressed to present a central flat disk portion Surrounded by a peripheral flange of inverted U-shaped cross section. Such a cap provides a seal around the annular shoulder which is inside of the neck, and

also seals around the exterior surface of the head at the mouth of the bottle.

and useful structural features by which the various steps of a cap affixing operation are per: formed. Among such novel collateral features are the following: 7

. An arrangement whereby the supply stack of caps and also the devices for releasing caps from the stack are kept from undesirable shaking' or jarring, so that the caps can be fedout, one at a time with certainty and are correctly positioned on the bottle mouths regardless of ordinary manufacturing variations in the shape, size and thickness of the caps. The cap releasemechanism includes a novel retarding means whereby each cap is tilted asit is released from the stack so as to fall flatwise on the guideway leading to the cap affixing zone.

A stationary cap guiding member, preferably a chute, a trough, or its equivalent, employed to direct the caps from thestationary container to the bottle, is alsoutilized to provide the above mentioned rigid support forthe container and the cap releasing mechanism which is mounted on the wall of the container.

The claimed invention includes :a novel stop device of simple construction whose function is to 1 halt the cap as it leaves the guide member and to cause each cap to drop fairly onto'thebottle mouth'f The vertically reciprocating capping plunger is provided with an improvedyieldable mounting to enable the plunger tocap bottles of variant heights withoutfany'manual adjustment of the machine. it

The operating principle involved in the present invention is that of a machine which delivers caps one at a time from a stationary supply stack in such a way that one edge of the cap is released from the stack slightly in advance of its diametri- 5 cally opposite edge, thus delivering the cap in a tilted position to a downwardly'inclined guideway, along which it slides by gravity, or else, in a modified embodiment, is propelled by mechanical means to a position above the bottle mouth. 10 There the cap is halted by a suitable stop and is constrained to drop freely and land fairly upon the beaded mouth of a bottle in readiness to be pressed into sealed position by the capping plunger.

In the appended claims we have pointed out the essential elements of our invention, it being understood, however, that the claims are not intended to be limited to the form of the parts illustrated and described further than a limitation to the described form is necessary to distinguish them from the prior art.

Like reference characters indicate like parts in all figures of the drawings.

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the invention as it line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the plunger raised and a cap in the act of being delivered from the container.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the plunger in its cap affixing position, the supply of caps being held in the container.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail showing a face view of a part of the cap-releasing device, viewed in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3,

the cap-supporting finger being removed.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a part sectional view showing the invention in a modified form, employing mechanical means instead of a gravity chute for impelling the released caps from the end of the guide member.

The preferred embodiment is illustrated in Figs.

1, 2, 3, where numeral 1 designates avertically reciprocatory plunger that is actuated by a cross- 7 dependent of a bottle filler.

head 2 on a vertically reciprocatory drive rod 3, or else to any other appropriate part of a bottle filling machine (not shown) if the invention is to be employed as an attachment for a bottle filler; or rod 3 may represent any suitable power driven member of a capping machine which is in- Spring cushioning means t on the stem Ia of the plunger below the cross-head 2 serve to limit thepressing force that can be applied to the bottle cap during the down stroke of the cross-head in order to prevent breaking any bottles that are oversize or unusually tall. A second spring, 5, on the stem Ia between cross-head 2 and a shoulder Ib on the upper end of the plunger stem Ia serves to yieldingly lift the plunger I when cross-head 2 moves upward.

A stationary container 6, holding'a supply of stacked caps ll, is located preferably somewhat higher than plunger I and remote from it, as shown, to permit the cap to feed downward by gravity to the cap affixing station.

The cap container, being stationary and rigid, is distinguished functionally from earlier hoppers that reciprocated vertically during the capping operation and consequently jarred the stack of caps, sometimes interfering with their proper delivery. Stationary container 6 constitutes a rigid base or support for the cap-releasing mechanism and prevents it from becoming disarranged or misadjusted, assuring precision in its operation. Moreover, the cap releasing mechanism is located so that its actions can readily be timed in with capping plunger I Guideway 8 extends downwardly from the container and then laterally, preferably in a horizontal direction, at 8a, toward the path of travel of plunger I. The guide may be in the form of a toboggan-like trough, shown in Fig. 1, or a drop-and-slicer feed, as in Fig. 6. The guide preferably is integral with the container I5 or else is firmly secured to it, and constitutes a rigid support. The lower part of guide 8 is horizontal and terminates adjacent to the working zone of plunger I, so that a cap sliding freely down the guide 8 will leave the end 8a and project itself across the path of travel of the plunger.

Appropriate stop means, as wall 9, halts the projected lateral flight of the cap just after it leaves the delivery end 8a of the guideway 8 and compels the cap to drop fairly upon the rim of the bottle mouth ready to be pressed into place by a subsequent action of the cap affixing plunger I. V

The cap releasing device may be of any suitable type without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in certain of the claims, but the structure illustrated is deemed to be preferable and in itself embodies certain new and useful claimed'features. As shown in Figs. 2 to 5 there are two cap engaging elements mounted on the wall of the fixed container 6 and positioned near its bottom end opposite guideway 8. Of these elements, yieldable finger II] has. only inand out movement, the other element, claw II, having in-and-out and also up-and-down movements.

Projection I 2 on'the wall of container 6 is provided for tilting and retarding an edge of each cap so it will travel edge foremost along the guideway from the stack onto the bottle after 7 having been released by finger I6.

The means for retracting finger I0, also the means for moving claw I I lengthwise of the container while causing it first to grip and then release the stack of caps, are shown in their preferred form in Figs. 2 to 5. A wall of container 6 is formed with a longitudinal slit-like aperture I3 near its bottom and above the aperture at 60: the wall is beveled exteriorly. A plate I 6 fixed to container I5 overlies the beveled portion 9a. 5

It is'formed to present a channel I la for strap I la. Finger II], which is made of resilient metal, is secured at oneend to the plate I 4 and about midway of its length there is an inward camshaped projection I5. 10

Finger I 0 provides a temporary rest for one edge of the cap while the opposite edge is being supported by projection I2 which is rounded as shown in Fig, 3. Finger I9, when withdrawn as in Fig. 2, releases the bottom cap Ia from the 15 stack. Being for the moment retarded by projection I2, the cap "Ia tilts as it falls onto the inclined guideway 8.

The longitudinally movable flexible metal strap I Ia lies against the wall of container 5 and slides 20 II a is pulled upward, as in Fig. 2. 30

Two cams I6, I 6, Figs. 4 and 5, are provided on the outer faces of the bifurcations. When strap Ila. is drawn upwardly cams I9 enter channel I ia of plate I I and by wedging action therein the cams force the flexible strap I I a to bend, as 35 shown in Fig. 2, so as to seat itself fiat against the beveled face 6a of the wall of the container. The extremities of claw II, while moving upward are thus forced into the container and seize the marginal edge, or the outer peripheral wall, of the nexttobottom cap 'Ib, push it against the opposite wall of the container at I I and thus temporarily support the stack. Cam IId meanwhile, by its engagement with cam I5, withdraws finger I 0 and releases the lowermost cap 7a, which, being slightly retarded by projection I2, tilts and then drops, landing flatwise upon inclined chute 8, as is shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

When the strap Ila reverses its direction and begins to move downward by gravity due to its own weight and the weight of the superimposed caps its cam IId releases finger II] which projects itself into the container, as shown in Fig. 3. Cam I6, on strap IIa, moves down out of the channel I la in bar I4, permitting strap IIa to straighten, whereupon claw II releases the cap 1b which it had been holding. The stack of caps then settles down to temporarily rest on finger I0 and projection I2. The operation is repeated to deliver each succeeding cap.

The requisite alternating upward and downward movements of strap Ila are effected as follows:

At the upper end of strap IIa is a boss I8 having a recess I8a in which the end of a trigger member I9 is loosely received. Trigger I9, pivoted at 29 to a fixed support as container 6, is arranged so that its outer free cam-shaped end I9a shall be appropriately contacted by a yieldable wiper 2 I as it moves up with cross-head 2, and its top edge is contacted by 2| on its down I stroke, as shown in Fig. 2, or with any other suitably moving part in timed relation with the strokes of the capping plunger I.

Referring now to the alternative structure, Fig. 75

A cross bar He is fixed 25 Cit 6, numeral 22 designates a horizontal guide or chute, 23 is a sliding feeder plate having its end 23a shaped to fit the rim of a bottle cap, and 24 is a bell crank lever joined at one end by pin and slot connection 24a to plate 23. Lever 24 is pivoted at 2422 to a fixed support, as housing 6-, and its upper end 240 is received in an elongated slot 25 of a vertically movable bar 26 which is carried by cross-head 2. Slot 25 has its end walls positioned so as to suitably abut and actuate the bell crank lever and feeder plate 23.

Strap I la has a projection 21 which is engaged by stop members 28, 28a on a bar 29 that moves .up and down with cross-head 2, for actuating the thicker or thinner than ordinary. They may even be inaccurate in size, may have various degrees of surface roughness, or may vary in shape due to slight warping that sometimes occurs while they are in storage. The capping device herein described will operate satisfactorily regardless of such variations.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bottle capping machine including a vertically reciprocatory plunger and having, in combination, a container for a supply of caps that are stacked fiatwise, the stack being located on a fixed support higher than the plunger, a continu-- ous guideway extending downwardly and thence laterally in a horizontal direction from the container to a place adjacent the zone of travel of the plunger, cap releasing means associated with the container and including cam-actuated cap grippers and an opposed cap-engaging projection co-operating with said grippers, saidreleasing means being operable to deliver from the container tosaid guideway one cap at a time, actuating mechanism for said releasing means operable in timed relation to said plunger, a stop memberpositioned to be engaged by a cap upon leaving the lower horizontal end of said guideway, said stop member being arranged to constrain said cap to drop straightdown flatwise and thereby seat itself upon the rim of a bottle mouth which is located in the path of travel of the plunger.

2. A bottle capping machine including a vertically reciprocatory capping plunger having, in

combination, a stationary container positioned remote from the zone of operation of the plunger, cap releasing means operable to deliver one cap at a time from said container in appropriate timed relation to the operations of the plunger, said releasing means including an abutment positioned to be releasably engaged by an edge of a cap being delivered from the container, whereby the cap upon release is caused to tilt, a guide- Way extending downwardly at an incline from the container and leading to the zone of action of the plunger, and stop means arranged to engage the cap upon leaving said guideway and serving to direct the cap onto a bottle positioned in the path of travel of the plunger.

3. A bottle capping machine having a reciprocatory cap applying plunger and including in combination a stationary container for a supply of bottle caps, a cap release device operatively associated with the container, actuating means for said release device operable in timed relation with said plunger, cap tilting means associated with the container and adapted to tilt each cap upon its release, and a guide element arranged to conduct such tilted released caps by gravity to the zone of travel of said plunger.

4. A bottle capping machine including in combination, a fixed container for a stack of caps, provided with an outlet at its lower end, a fixed horizontal guideway spaced below said outlet, a reciprocatory sliding feeder plate mounted on said guideway, a cap-retaining spring finger mounted on a wall of said container and normal- 1y urged into cap-retaining position, a fixed cap- 30 retarding projection on the container opposite said finger, a cross-bar movable lengthwise ofthe container adapted to effect movement of said finger to release position, and means for actuating said horizontal feeder plate and said cross-bar 85 in timed relation.

5. In acap applying machine a stationary cap container formed with a longitudinal aperture near its lower end and an exteriorly beveled portion above said aperture, a finger mounted on afixed support and normally held in the aperture in cap-engaging position, a cam-shaped pro- 'jection on said finger, a flexible strap longitudinally reciprocable on the container and having a cam-shaped element adapted to engage the projection on said finger, a second cam on said strap,

a fixed plate member opposite said beveled portion and formed with a channel to slidingly receive said second cam whereby the strap is flexed and forced against the said beveled portion. 5

6. A capping machine including a reciprocatory plunger and having in combination a container for a stack of caps, said container being mounted on a fixed support, a cap delivery device arranged to release one edge of the endmost cap of said stack slightly in advance of its diametrically opposite edge, whereby each cap is delivered in a tilted position, and a guideway for receiving the cap, arranged to deliver it to the zone of action of the plunger, for the purposes set forth.

RUDOLF WM. VON SYDOW. EDWARD J. MCCOY.

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