US2679222A - Method and apparatus for sideseaming can bodies - Google Patents

Description

May 25, 1954 H. F. JoHNsoN METHOD AND APPARATUS Fon SIDE-SEAMING CAN Booms Filed June 2, 194e s sheets-sheet 1 wf mf ,N 7M l r .j

May 25, 1954 H. F. JQHNsoN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIDE-SEAMING CAN BODIES Filed June 2, 1.949

C5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Il IVOIII l May 25, 1954` H. F. JOHNSON 2,679,222y

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIDEI-SEAMING CAN BODIES Filed Jun 2, 1949 s sheets-sheet s INVENTOR. Herbe?" f7 JW@ 235m@ Patented May 25, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIDE- SEAMING CAN BODIES Herbert F. Johnson, Baldwin, N. Y.

lApplication J une 2, 1949, Serial No. 96,670 6 claims. (c1. 11s-12) My present invention relates to a can bod5T making machine and aims to provide certain improvementstherein. More particularly it relates to a machine for making can bodies of the type disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 82,957, led March 23, 1949, now Patent'No.

In the manufacture of sheet metal cans for packaging various items, and particularly in the manufacture of-sheet metal cans for packaging foodstuffs and the like, wherein non-contamination of the contents is an important problem, it is the current practice to utilize what is known as a can body machine comprising a vbody maker and side seamer. Such a body maker usually receives a supply of blanks from astack, and successively passes such blanks through 5 to l stations whereat successive operations are performed on each sheet metal blank to form it into a can body. The operations customarily performed at these various stations comprise feeding, flexing, notching and edging of the blank and then forming the prepared blank into a can body. One or more idle stations are usually provided between the feeding and notching stations, and idle stations are also usually provided between the notching, edging and forming stations.

At the notching station of such a can body maker, the corners on one end of the blank are notched or cut away, and the other end of the same blank is simultaneously provided with corresponding slits or incisions. At the edging station the end portions of the blank between the incisions on one end and the notches on the other end are bent back in opposite directions so as to provide oppositely-turned hooks which may be interlocked when the blank is wrapped around the horn at the forming station. At the forming station the blank is wrapped around theconven- .tional horn to assume the general shape of the can body, the oppositely turned edges of the blank or hooks are interlocked, and such hooks are bumped to form the conventional side seamof the can body. After the side seam is formed, the can body is moved to the soldering station where the conventional rotary solder rolly is utilized to provide the necessary solder to sweatsolder the side seam. The can body is then transferred to a anger where the top and bottom edges of the can body are flanged outwardly to receive the' can ends and for the subsequent operation of double seaming.

In the formation of can bodies on machines of the type above-described, it has been found that ldue to the raw edges at the ends of the blank and the step-down of metal thickness at said ends in forming the steam, minute unsoldered pinholes frequently are formed in the side seam. It has also been found, after the soldering operation, that minute holes have been formed between the can ends and the side seam at the inner corners of the notches, and that such small holes, in fact, expose a raw edge of the can body. The minute holes in the side seam and the minute holes which occur at the notched corners both provide air leaks .which facilitate contamination of the contents of the can.

Among the objects of my invention are; To provide a body making machine in which the number of stations and operations on a can blank are reduced, thereby to simplify and reduce the cost of can making machines and of the cans made thereon; to reduce the overall dimensions of such machine and to thereby conserve space; to provide a can body making machine in which a longitudinal seam is formed in a can body within three stations or less and without cutting or notching the blank; to provide a can body making machine wherein the side seam is formed by flanging and drawing complemental portions of a blank and then lock-seaming said complemental portions; to provide a machine adapted to make can bodies of the type disclosed in my aforementioned application in a continuous and emcient manner.

The foregoing and other objects of my invention not specifically enumerated I accomplish by providing a can body making machine which will feed 11a-t sheet metal blanks to a can body horn, and while held by clamping wings, simultaneously form the overlapped ends of the blanks, one with a groove and the other with a flange disposed within the groove, and will then fold back the interengaged walls of the metal formed by the fiange and the walls of the groove against the metal of the blank to provide a locked seam, at least one end of which terminates short of the end of the resulting can body. The invention will be better understood from the detailed description which follows, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a rear elevation of a can body making machineembodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the plane of the line -Z of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the can body horn and' of the complemental dies and the male die operating means for preforming the side seam in the can body.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the plane of the 3 line 4-4 of Fig. 3, the feed rollers for the blank being shown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a section taken along the plane or the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a metal blank from which the can body is formed.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a can body formed from the blank shown in Fig. 6 and particularly showing the side seam of the can.

Fig. 3 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken along the plane of the line 8-8 o Fig. 7.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 diagrammatically show the progressive steps in which the side sea-rn shown n in Fig. 8 is formed by the can body making ma chine shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

ln the drawings, the same reference characters designate the corresponding parts in the various gures. n

Before describing the machine shown. in Figs. 1 to 4, will describe the type or seam and can body which the' machine of the present invention is adapted to make. Such can body I (Figs. 'I and 8) has a longitudinal side seam i5, the said can body being preferably formed from a rectangular sheet -inetal blank I'i by forming at one oi' the ends thereof an outwardly directed ilange Se and at the other end portion or the blank an outwardly directed groove I9, the iange It and the walls 29 and 2l of the groove being coextensive, interengaged', lock-seemed and folded back against the end portion 22 of the blank end formed with the groove I9, and against the body portion of the blank adjacent the end formed with the iiange IS. The flange I9 and the groove I9 terminate at their opposite ends short of the edges 23 and Z4' of the blank and the metal at the ends of the blank between said edges and the' ends of 'the flangeY and the ends of the groove respec-k tively is uncut, unflang'ed, ungrooved and integral with the ange'd and theV grooved portions, respec# tively; and in single thickness overlying relation. The seam ie between the approximate points and 25a on Fig. l is constituted by at least four thicknesses or metal, the innermost of which bears against the' can body longitudinallybeyond said points 25 and 25a by lapped single'thicknes'ses of metal, and said seam, when formed on the mai chine of the presentl invention in the manner' hereinafterdescribed, may be soldered or notas desired, depending upon the character of the contents to be packaged in the can.

The flange i8 and the groove i9 are simulitaneously formed by a die unit of the can body making machine, said die unit comprisinga re: ciprocable pressure foot 25 movable into engagement with the lapped end portions of the blank for clamping them against the horn or body forme er 26o, a male die or punch 2, a female die 28 having a socket which preferably is wider than the combined width of both the punch and three thicknesses I8, 2t and 2| of the met'ai blank, as particularly seen in Fig. 9, and anking said socket spaced protruding lips 28a and 28h for contacting and engaging spaced portions of the outer lap of the blank, thereby tov provide two hold-downs for the lapped' portions of the blank, namely, by the lip' 28a and the outer pressurev foot 26, and a single hold-down by the lip 25h during the drawing operation, the die 28 being reciprocable in the same direction as the pressure foot 26,- and a transversely reciprocable slide 29, which is operable in timed relation to the reciproca-tion of the punch and the die, respectively. A @he operation of the machine in simultaneous- 1y forming th Harige I8 and in drawing the groove I9 in the blank while positioned around the horn a will be presently described. However, it may be here explained that in the drawing operation the grooved end portion of the blank has its top and bottom edges 3G (Fig. 7) drawn inwardly toward each other and out of true alignment with the edges 23 and 24, and the end portion 22 of the blank beyond the groover has its edge drawn inwardly between the extreme end of the top and bottom edges B, as best shown at tI in Fig. 7. In' view of the inward drawing of the top and bottorn edges as shown at 3i the equivalent or chamil'ers at said lapped ends of the blank are provided, thus` preparing the outer edges 3i so they will not project beyond the edges 23 and 24 during the flanging of the ends of the can body. The drawn" edges 3D and 3| also provide a means for accommodating solder where the seams are to be soldered. 1

Referring now to Figs". 1 to 5 of the drawings, the machine comprises a vfrance 32 having mounted thereinan operating shaft 3S adapted to be driven a pulley Se or equivalent means. Suitably mounted inthe freine is the can body horn Zimt,-v the left hand portion 26o of which inay be considered the blank-receiving or feed-in station which is substantially encircled by horn blank guides 35 and 35d, an axially spaced right hand portion 2te 'which may be considered the forming stationwhch is substantially encircled by horn wings 3b, a conventional support 3l for a stackuof sheet metalrcan body blanks IT, and means for feeding said blanks to the horn com-v prising suctioncups 39, a pusher rod 4B, feed rolls liI and means for forming the seam presently to be described. Y i d Y, l

At the feed-in station the hornl portion 2th is formed with a shoulder 42a on a part I2 (Fig. e) which may be vformed as apermanent magnet for engaging and stopping the leading end IIa of a blank when fed tor said horn portion, said part i2 being provided with an'outer shield @2b preferably made, of brass, which prevents the blank from beingv hindered in its path around the horn, V For moving a blank along the horn from the blank-receiving station 26h to the forming station 29C there is provided ay pair of fingers 43 pivotally carried by feed bars 4 4 movable in longitudinally-eXtendingV recesses l in the Yperiphery At the forming sta-tion the horn is provided with thermale die or punch 21 which Ais movable radially outwardly by a reciprocable horn wedge cam 46 extending throughthe horn, said horn wedge cam being operable by a vertically mov-V able wedge rod il through suitable linkages y11'8 anddkbymacam 50 mounted on the operating shaft 3?. VThe horn wedge cam 46 has cam surfaces 5I which cooperate with complemental cam surfaces 52 on the, punch for operating the latter, and the cam 46 isy returnable to its inoperative positionby spring meansl 53 after the' punch has performed its drawing andgforming-operations. For permitting movement ofthe 4male punch 2 1 relatively tothehorn, the latter is appropriately recessed and formedwith ller ysegments 54 having outer curved surfaces providing'oontinuations of the horn outer surface,I the Vsaidiller segments being held within the horn by screws 55|. Ifhe male punchl has transvers'e'pins 5S extending therethrough, against which operates compression springs 5l for returning the punch to its inoperative' posit-16eu @dei .pr super-.eatery m1111- eegiar naar geraete ,the reg-'e cam to its inoperative position.` 'The horn wings are operated to hold the canbody blank firmly against the horn at the forming station with vtheends of the blankY inpredetermined-overlapped relationV underlying the male punch 2l, the horn wings being movable into clamping relation by Ytoggle arms 58 which, inturn, are operable -b'y thelever-59, rod 60 and cam 6|. supplemental means-for holding the blank in position lo nthe horn at .the forming station while n,permitting axial movement of the blank along thehorn is'provided `by a'pressure bar 62 urged.l toward the hornby--awplurality of springs 63 actingfagain'st a bracket64 carried by the machine frame, The lapped Yendsof the blank are rmly held against'the .horn during the seam-forming operation by the outerVV pressure foot 26 whichis adapted to be moved into contact with said lapped 'xd'sand held vthereagainst .bya` cam VB6. The lapped ends of the blank may be supplementally held during the drawing operation by the lips 28a and 28h of the female die 28 which is operable by a cam 61.

After the male die or punch 21 is operated to form the ange I8 at one end of the blank and the groove I9 adjacent the lapped other end of the blank, as shown in Fig. 9, both the male and the female dies recede and the interengaged ange and side walls of the groove in between the ends of the blank are folded over by the side slide 29 which is reciprocable in any preferred manner, herein shown as being mounted on a slide 69 and movable by a connection 10 which is eccentrically mounted on a stub shaft 1I rotatable from the driving shaft through a pair of -miter gears 12 and 13. After the interengaged seam has been folded over and the side slide 29 has receded, the female die 28 is moved upwardly by its cam 61 so that the arm 28a of the die bumps the seam against the body of the hornl thus completing the seam. The various means which operate to hold the blank firmly onto the horn are then released. As hereinbefore mentioned, the length of the interengaged portion of the side seam is less than the height of the can blank, wherefore the upper ends of the pressure foot engage the lapped portions of the blank adjacent Ythe side edges thereof in addition to engaging the blank adjacent the line of seam. In view of the fact that the side slide 29 must move into engagementwith the seam while the pressure foot is in holding engagement with the blank, the side of the pressure foot facing the slide 29 is recessed to accommodate said side slide.

'I'he operation of the machine in forming side seams of the character described is as follows: Successive blanks are drawn from the bottom of the stack by the suction cups 39 which reciprocate in aV vertical direction and bring the individual blanks from the stack level to the feed level. At the feed level a blank is pushed horizontally toward the feed rolls 4| by the reciprocating blank pusher 40, which operates in a conventional mamier. The feed rolls which are driven, feed the blank to the blank-receiving or feed-in station 26h of the horn whereat the blank is wrapped around the horn and is given a preliminary cylindrical form by means of the spaced blank'guides 35 and 35a, the leading edge of the blank being stopped at a predetermined position by the shoulder 42a on the part 42. The blank is then moved along the horn between the guides 35 and 35a by the ngers 43 on the feed bars 44 to the forming station 26e whereat the drawing, bending and bumping operations are all performed. If

desired, a third station may be providedvon the horn for bumping the seam 'inwardly to provide an outwardly smooth surface, to whichstationthe formed can body maybe moved by an additional pair of lingers on the same feed bars 44. Where it is desired to solder the side seam, the formed. can body may be again Vmoved to a solder -horn for the conventional soldering operation. At least two sets of fingers 43 are provided -onthe feed bars 44 to advance the blank successively to each station, and if a third station-is required,. a third set of fingers would be provided on the: feed bars.

In the operation of forming the flanges andthe groove inthe lapped ends of the blank on the horn in forming the side seam, thepunch 21 and the die 28 only require very short strokes, which may be less than one-quarter the length of the strokes conventionally required for the edging, notching and bumping of blanks on conventional machines. Also, in View of the fact that with the machines of the present invention fewer operating stations are required, it will be apparent that the machine of the present invention is capable of greater productive capacity that prior machines.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be appreciated that while I have shown and described a can body making machine capable of accomplishing the various objects of my invention as set forth in the opening statement of this specification, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction thereof may be resorted to within the range of engineering skill without departing from the spirit of my invention as clened in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of making a seam for sheet metal cans or the like, which comprises bringing the ends of a blank into lapped surface contacting relation and while holding said ends in clamped said relation simultaneously forming an outwardly directed ange of less length than the distance between the edges of the blank at one lap end and forming by a drawing operation an outwardly directed groove of substantially the same length as the'formed flange and coextensive therewith in the other lap end with the flange disposed in the groove, and lock-seaming the engaging flange and groove walls.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the flange and the groove are formed without cuting the blank.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the lock-seaming of the interengaged liange and the walls of the groove is performed while the unflanged and ungrooved parts of the lapped ends are held clamped in their lapped relation.

4. A can body making machine comprising a can body horn having aside seam forming station, means for positioning and holding a sheet metal blank around said horn at said station with the ends of the blank in overlapped surface contacting relation, a part of said holding means engaging the longitudinal extremities of the overlapped ends, a reciprocable punch and a cooperating die at said station between the extremities holding means and of less length than the lapped ends of the blank for acting on said lapped ends to simultaneously form therein by a drawing operation an outwardly directed flange at one of the lapped ends of the blank and a coextensive outwardly directed Agroove in the other end portion of the blank with the flange disposed within the groove. and means for lock- :samingithe Lwa-11sof metaliprovided by the ange fandthawalls iof thegroove. l

45.71 can :body y making lmachine according to fclaimiliA, wherein` if iaic.. reciprocablepunch is mounted within therhorn Vior movernern'f,r outwardly :through the* surface of the horn, -and meansf-,extenddnto the horn and are voperative lfrom-'bhe.exteriorfofthe horn to operate said punch.

-6. A can body making machine Vaccording to claim wherein: saidfpunch and the means'for -operatingmsuch punch. have cooperating vcam surfaces.

-Referemees Cited in `the file of this patent` UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 'Number Name Date @219,494 Milligan Sept. 9, 18'179 222.691' Gordon Dec. 16, 1879 lNumber :.1

8 Name. Date Dolan Oct. 9, 1883 Gordon f Aug. 19, 1884 Symonds- Mar. 30, 1886 :Salter Sept. 17, 1889 Wilse July 11, 1916 Stuart Apr. 27, 1926 Meyers.1 July y 19, 1932 Cameronf Nov. 14, 1933 Werder; Oct. 15, 1935 Brenzinger Dec. 19, 1939 Hothersa11 Jan. 23, 1940 Krueger Dec.Y 28, 1943 Hubbell- July 18, 1944 Anderson@ June 29, 1948 Kruse- VJan..4, 1949 Adamson Aug. 14, 1951 Johnson- Dec. Y 9, 1952

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