US1814386A - Bottle capping machine - Google Patents

Description

July 14, 1931,. R E HM 1,814,386

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE July 14, 1931.

R. E. HILL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed IJan.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2l Mmmm v July 14, 1931.

R. E. HILL BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 [nre/Maf' July 14, 1931. R. E. H|| l 1,814,386

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. l1, 1926 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 77 zd' 7] y@ im g. 7g M72 72 W [nue/Maf' L/ 5 El MMM-MM July14,1931. REHILL I `1,814,386-

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11, 1926 e sheets-sheet .6

[bref/far v Y im patented .uly 14, 1931 UNITED STATE s PATENr grica ROLAND E. HILL, F DEGATUR, ILLIN 01S., ASSGNOR- 'IO WILLIAMS SEALING CORPORA- TION, 0F DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OI? ILLINOIS BOTTLE CAPPING- MACHINE Application filed January 11,. 1926.

This invention relates generally to bottle capping machines and more particularly to a machine which applies and fastens a bottle cap comprising a slotted skirt surrounded by a divided ring and to which is applied a fastening lever having a cam head such as illustrated in the Williams Patent No. 1,108,959, dated vSeptember 1, 1914.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rotary capping machine, that is, one in which the bottles are fed into the machine and carried around a circular path and while so carried have the caps applied thereto and fastened.

Another object of the invention is to provide in connection with a machine of this type, a construction ywhereby-the bottles will be moved up into firm engagement with a fixed head duringthe capping'operation, and

provision made for maintaining the bottles in such elevated position by a predetermined force which will yield to any excess of pressure, and thereby prevent`- injury to the bottle, cap, or mechanism.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a machine employing the aforesaid advantageous characteristics which can be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate bottles of various heights; and a still further object is to provide 'a machine which will be compact in arrangement and occupy com* paratively small space due to the peculiar manner of constructing and arranging the actuating parts.

With these various objects in view the invention consists in the novel features of construction of the various parts and in the manner of combining or arranging the same, all of which Will be fully described hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Fig. 1 is an elevation of a bottle capping machine embodying one kform of my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, certain parts being omitted; Fig. 8 is a sectionaly plan view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan'view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 together with a plan view of the feed and delivery belts; Fig. 5 is a detail view partly in-section of the means Serial No. 80,530.

for raising and lowering the capping head;

Fig. 6 is a detail view partly in section illustrating the actuating mechanism; Fig. 7 is a plan view ofthe bottle positioning means and Fig. 8 is a sectional vieu7 of the same.; Fig. 9 is an enlarged rview of the track for raising the bottle carrier together with the yieldable means for relieving pressure and Fig. 10 is an elevation of the same.

In carrying out my invention I employ a rbase 10 to which is connected a standard 11. Rigidly connected to the standard 11 near the lower end of the same is a collar 12 from which extend in oppositeV directions the bracket arms 12a and to the upper ends of these bracket arms are'connected pulleys 13 around which travelthe feed belt 14 by means of which bottles are delivered to the machine, and the delivery' belt 15 by means of which the capped bottles are carried away from the machine.

The collar 12 also has a bracket arm 12b extending therefromand carrying the track for lraising the bottle lifters and which will be more fully described hereinafter.

Fitting upon the non-rotatable standard 11, is a tubular rotatable standard 16, there being a suitable bearing 17 arranged between the lower end of the standard 16 and the collar 12 in order to reduce friction, which' bearing can be of theball or roller type as preferred. Connected to the lower end of the rotatable standard 16 is the bottle carrier 18 comprising avplurality of radially disposed arms having their outer endsenlarged and vprovided with vertical bores or openings 18a` in which work the rods 19 carrying each a table or platform 20 at its upper end. Eachv table or platform 2O is provided on its underside with a stop lug` or boss 21 having a pin 22 kdepending therefrom which pin works in a recess in the carrier 18 and holds the table or platform againstlateral movement during its up and down movements..

Upon the lower end of Aeach rod 19 constituting a part of the bottle lifter there is mounted a roller 23, these rollers being adapted to travel, as the bottle carrierrotates, upon the track 24 carried by the horizontal arm 12b heretofore referred to. The track 24 is curved in the arc of a circle as most clearly shown in Figs. 4, 9 and 10. At the extreme left hand end of the track 24 it is inclined as shown at 24a so that the roller 23 will be raised, and the roller then travels along the portion 24b which is substantially horizontal.y

Beyond this, however, the track is inclined at 24c so that the bottle lifter is moved upwardly a distance equal to this inclination. At the upper end of the inclined portion 24c the track is provided with a pivoted section 25, pivoted at 25a and having a tongue portion 25b working in a slot 25c cut in the adjacent portion of the track 24. Beyond the section 25 the track slopes off rapidly as indicated at 24d.

The section 25 is yieldable so that in case the bottle is subjected to excess pressure this section can yield downwardly and thereby relieve this pressure. The section 25 is normally held elevated by means of a pin 26 which works in a vertical bore produced in the track 24, and this pin 26 is maintained in position by means of a lever 27 pivoted at 27 to a bracket 27b depending from the track 24, and upon the right hand end of the lever 27 there is arranged a weight 28, this weight being adjustably arranged upon the lever so that the elevating force can be regulated as desired. The upward movement of the left hand end of the lever 27 is limited by means of a screw 29 working through the end of the lever and contacting at its upper end with the bottom of the track 24 as most clearly shown in Fig. 10, a locking nut 30 being employed to lock the screw 29 after the same has been properly adjusted. The relative position of the section 25 is therefore determined by the position of the pin 26, which in turn is determined by the position of the lever 27.

rI"urning with the bottle carrier is a capping head 31 comprising a sleeve surrounding the tubular standard 16 and having arms or a plate extending horizontally therefrom and having spaced recessed bosses 31a in which are inserted the chucks 32 against which the bottle cap is adapted to be brought; and it will be noted that each chuck 32 has a recess 33 cut in the face thereof inorder to receive the lever of the cap and permit the operation of the lever turning device hereinafter described.

The bosses 31a have connected thereto, the

lvertical arms 31", to the upper ends of which is attached the cam track 34 having the inclined portions 34'n1 and 34b for actuating the lever-tripping mechanism.

The capping head which rotates in unison with the bottle carrier is adjustable vertically in order to accommodate bottles of different sizes and this adjustment is accomplished by means of a nut 35 carried by the capping head 31, and in which turns a screw 36, the lower end of said screw having a beveled gear 37 Lelli-,ese

caused to rotate upon `the standard 11 and carry with it the bottle carrier and capping head through the medium of a worm gear 4() which is keyed to the capping head 31 which in turn iskeyed to the tubular standard 16 so that in rotating, the tubular standard 16 and the capping head will be carried together.

The worm gear 40vis turned by means of a worm 41 journaled in a bearing 42 at the end of a depending arm 43 which is connected to a sleeve 44 mounted upon the upper portion of the fixed standard 11, this sleeve being stationary,l and a suitable bearing 44a is interposed betweenthe worin 40 and the sleeve 44 which bearing may be either of the roller or ball type as preferred.

This sleeve 44 also has an arm 45 connected thereto upon which is mounted the motor 46 for the purpose of driving the machine, a belt 47 running from said motor to a pulley 48, the pulley 48 being a double differential pulley, which in turn drives the belt 49 traveling around the pulley 50, mounted upon the end of the wormV shaft 42 so that the rotary movement of the motor 46 is communicated by the aforesaid belts and pulleys to the worm and gear forthe purpose of giving the rotating parts of the machine their proper movements.

Depending from the fixed sleeve 44 is a curved arm or yoke 51 to the lower end of which is attached a chute 52 inclined as shown and through which the caps are fed to the Y machine, the cap atthe end of the chute being picked off and applied to the mouth ofthe bottle as said bottle comes into the proper position just as the lifting mechanism begms to operate upon said bottle and move the bottle with the cap thereon upwardly so that` thecap comes into contactv with the chuck 32 and has a continuous pressure applied thereto until the tripping operation has been accomplished. y

rlfhe lever tripping mechanism is stationary, that is to say it does not revolve with the bottle carrier and capping head but is carried by the stationary sleeve 44 there being an arm 53 projecting laterally from the sleeve 44 and to which the capping mechanism 54 is connected, this capping mechanism being shown and described in my application filed Nov. 8, 1924 Serial No. 748,692, and a detailed description thereof at this place is therefore deemed unnecessary.

The sleeve44 is preferably formed with an interior chamber and upon the top of the the chamber 60, by means of which lubricant can be supplied between the fixed and movable standards, thereby facilitating the rota tion of the machine.

In order to hold the bottles properly positioned upon the bottle lifters during the operation of the machine I employ a bottle holding device for each bottle, these bottle holders being arranged between the bottle lifter and the capping head but moving in unison therewith, and in practice I prefer to construct this bottle holder in the following manner.

A split collar is rigidly fixed to the rotary standard 16 and to this collar 70 are attached two substantially semi-circular plates 71, these parts being so connected that a sub-V stantially circular plate is provided and in the periphery thereof at definite intervals I cut notches 72. It will be noted in the present instance that siX such notches are cut, and in radial alignment with these notches, the plates are slotted obliquely as indicated at 73. To the circular plate 71 adjacent the notch portion 72 I attach the holding jaws 74 and 75, the jaw 74 having an outwardly v projecting finger 76. These jaws are connected to the plates by means of bolts 7 7 pass- Y ing through the jaws and the slots 73, so that these jaws can be adjusted toward and away from each other and at the same time they are adjusted toward and away from each other, they will-be adjusted radially inwardly and outwardly on account of the inclination of the slots 73 and it will be noted by reference to F ig. 7 that the jaws at the eXtreme left of the holder are adjusted to accommodate a small size bottle 80, whereas th-e jaws adjacent thereto are adjusted to accommodate a medium sized bottle a, andto accommodate the large size bottle 8()b the: jaws are moved back to their most operated and withdrawn positions so that the opening for the bottley is substantially'coeXtensive with ther notch 72. The fingers 76 serve to pick the bottle off from the belt 14 and move the same onto the table or platform 2O Vof the bottle lifter and in so doing the bottle becomes positioned between the jaws as most clearly indicated in Fig. 7. The direction of movemen;` of the belt 14 aids materially in this operation and the finger 76 completes the gathering operation. In this figure I have indicated the three different adjustments, but in actual practice the machine will have all the jawsadjusted approximately7 the same,

that is, all. of the aws will be adjusted to re-V ceive small sized bottles, medium sized bottles or large sized bottles, so that a contin-v nous flow of one size of bottles through the machine will be acted upon.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The bottles 80 are fed into the machine by means of the belt 14 driven from any suitable source, and as'they are delivered from the said belt to the table or platform 20 of the bottle carrier, the finger 76 as previously stated in connection with belt 14 causes the bottle tobe properly positioned upon said table or platform and this at a time when the table or platform 2O is in its lowest position. As the bottle` carrier rotates the rollers 23 on the lower end of the rod engage the incline 24a at the end of the track 24 and consequently` the bottle is slightly elevated, and while the roller 23 travels along the portion 24b the cap 90 will be delivered from the end of the chute 52 and picked off by the mouth of the bottle, and as the bottle carrier continues to travel around the roller 23 will start up the incline 24C and in so doing the bottle lifter will be raised suiiciently to bring the cap 90 upon ythe neck of the bottle into engagement with the chuck 32 carried by the capping head, which capping head is moved in unison with the bottle carrier. i The track 34 connected to the capping head is also rotating and just as the roller 23 moves upon the pivoted section 25 of the lifting track; the portion 34a of thecam track 34 moves from beneath the roller 54a of the tripping mechanism, which 'roller drops down the steep incline 34b and causes the tripper 54b to come in contact with the lever 91 of the bottle cap throwing said lever down and completing the capping operation as indicated in `ig. 1e As the roller 23 moves off of the pivoted section 25 it travels down the incline 24d and consequently permits the bottle lifter to drop and the fingen` 76 cooperating with any suitable mechanism (not shown) tends to force the said bottle into such position that it will move on to the delivery belt 15 and be tle and cap is at its greatest and the amount of pressure to which the bottle and cap are subjected at this time will be determined by the relative `position of the weight 28 upon the lever 27 and also the screw 29. Y

Should the pressure, for any reason, due to irregularities in the height of the bottle or any portion thereof, become excessive, the section 25 being yieldable will be forced downwardly lifting the weight 28 inasmuch as the pin 26 will press upon the short arm of the lever. In this way the excessive pressure is relieved and all danger of breaking or injuring the bottle will be avoided.

YVhen the roller 23 passes off from the section 25 which has just been slightly depressed the weight lwill immediately restore this sec!` tion 25 to its normal raised position, this raised position being limited by means of the said screw 29.

In order to accommodate different heights of bottles the capping head is adjusted'vertically by turning the bevel gears and screw and the movement of the capping head carries with it the proper adjustment of the motor, chute, capy chute and lever tripping mechanism also.

In order to accommodate different sizes or shapes of bottles from the standpointof hori- Zontal cross section the jaws 74 and 75 are adjusted upon the plates 71 as previously described.

The position of the table or platform 20 with reference to the bottle carrier 18 is determined by means of the stop lugs 2l and the guide pins 22 will permit the proper up and down movement of the table or platform without turning during such vertical movement.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple and efficient bottle capping machine capable of carrying out the objects hereinbefore referred to and by means of which caps of the kinddescribed can be Vapplied to and shifted upon the bottles in rapid succession as they are fed through the machine.

lVhile I have shown the machine as provided with siX bottle lifters it will of course be understood that thisnumber can be increased or decreased as desired so far as the operative cycles hereinbefore described are carried out in the manner set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a rotary bottle carrier, having a plurality of bottle lifters, of a track for raising said lifters, a pivoted'member in said track, a pin working in said track for holding said member elevated, a lever pivoted to said track and supporting said pin and member, adjustable means for positioning 'the lever with reference to said track and pin and a weight adjustable upon said lever to govern the lifting elevating force.

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a lined standard, of a bracket adjacent -its lower end, and a feed belt connected to said bracket, of a tubular standard rotatable upon said fixed standard, a bottle carrier provided with bottle lifters ,connected to the movable standard, a member having capping heads also connected to said movable standard above the bottle carrier and movable in unison therewith, a nonrotatable yoke on said fixed standard carry- -ing a motor, a cap chute and a lever tripping device, a gear connected with the movable standard and means connecting the motor and said gear, aV cam track carried by the head carrying member, and actuating the lever tripping device and a stationary track below the bottle carrier for raising the bottle lifters at predetermined times.

3. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a fixed standard, of a movable standard turnable thereon, a gear connected to said movable standard, a non-rotatable yoke carrying a motor and means connected with said motor for moving said gear, a cap chute and a lever tripping device connected to the stationary yoke, a member connected to the movable standard and carrying non-yielding capping heads, and also a cam track, said cam track actuating the lever tripping device, a rotary bottle carrier connected to the movable standard, below the capping heads, said bottle carrier having bottle lifters arranged in alignment with the capping heads, and a track for raising said bottle lifters, said track having an upwardly projecting yieldable section together with regulatable means for exerting a definite lifting force upon said track section.

4. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with a rotatable standard, of a bottle carrier connected to said standard and having a plurality of bottle lifters, a rotary member connected also to the movable standard, above the bottle carrier, and having a plurality of non-yielding capping heads, and also a cam track, a worm gear connectedtothe movable standard, a non-rotating yoke on said fixed standard a motor carried by said yoke, a worm alsocarried by said yoke and driven from said motor, said worm meshing with the worin gear, and turning said movable standard, said yoke also carrying a cap chute and a lever tripping device, a stationary track below the bottle carrier for raising said bottle lifters, said track having a pivoted section, a pin for holding said section elevated, and an adjustable lever for supporting said pin, said lever being provided with means for regulating the lifting force exerted upon said pin.

5. In a machine for applying bottle caps, the combination with a plurality of revolving bottle lifters, yof a non-yielding head arranged in alignment with each bottle lifted and with which the cap on the bottle is brought into engagement by said bottle lifter, said non-yielding head revolving in unison with the lifter, a liked tripping device operating upon the cap at a predetermined time, and means connected with the revolving nonyielding head for actuating said tripping device.

6. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of revolving independently movable bottle lifters and means for moving each lifter, of a plurality of revolving non-yielding heads arranged above the bottle lifters and movable in unison therewith whereby as each bottle is lifted with cap thereon said cap is brought into contact with its respective non-yielding head,

RSA1

means for carrying said heads, a cam track also carried by said means, a fixed tripping device yoperated by the track and acting upon the cap in contact with the non-yielding head at a predetermined time.

7. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a plurality of revolving independently movable'bottle lifters, of a plurality of non-yielding heads arranged above said bottle lifters and movable in unison therewith, means for carrying said non4 yielding heads, a cam track connected to said means, a fixed tripping device operated by said cam track, and means for vertically adjusting the non-yielding heads and track together with means for revolving in unison the bottle lifters, non-yielding heads and track.

8. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a base carrying ay fixedv standard, said fixed standard having brackets connected thereto, one of said brackets having a feed belt connected therewith, the

other bracket having a delivery belt connected therewith and the third bracket having a track connected therewith, a plurality of independently movable bottle lifters moved vertically by the track, a plurality of nonyielding heads arranged in alignment with the bottle lifters and revolving in unison therewith, means for carrying said nonyielding heads, a cam track carried by said means and moving in unison with said heads, means for revolving the heads and bottle lifters anda stationary tripping device operated by the cam'track.

9. In a device of the kind described, the combination with a base carrying a fixed standard, said fixed standard having brackets connected thereto, one of said brackets having a feed belt connected therewith, the other bracket having a delivery belt connected therewith and the third bracket having a track connected therewith, a plurality of independently movable bottle lifters moved vertically by the track, a plurality of nonyielding heads arranged in alignment with the bottle lifters and revolving in unison therewith, means for carrying said non-yielding heads, a cam track carried by said means and moving in unison with said heads, means for revolving the heads and bottle lifters, and a stationary tripping device operated by the cam track, the non-yielding heads and cam track being vertically adustable with reference to the bottle litters.

10. In a device of the kind described, the combination witha bottle lifter, of a nonyielding head arranged in alignment therewith, together with means for revolving said bottle lifter and non-yielding head in unison, a liXed tripping device and means movable in unison with the non-yielding head for actuating said tripping device.

11. In a device of the kind described, the

combination with a revolving bottle carrier.

having bottle litters, of a stationary track having a pivoted inclined member, a pin for supporting said member, a weighted lever for supporting said pin, an adjustable screw carried at one end of the lever, and an adjustable weight at the other end of said lever.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature. l

ROLAND E. HILL.

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