IE69467B1 - An apparatus and method for handling bottles - Google Patents

Description

An Apparatus and Method for Handling Bottles The invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling bottles, particularly bottles which have a body of elongate shape in transverse cross-section, having a pair of elongate side wall means and a pair of shorter side wall means extending between the elongate side wall means .

For efficient production it is essential that bottles are handled, filled and labelled at as high a speed as possible. It is important to present the bottles in a desired orientation to each stage of the handling and filling operation. If the bottles are not presented in the required orientation there is substantial down time in the high speed operating equipment and manpower requirements are high in manually intervening to orient bottles in a desired configuration.

This invention is directed towards providing an apparatus and method of handling and filling bottles which will overcome some of these difficulties.

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for handling bottles each of which has a body of elongate shape in transverse cross section, the body having a pair of elongate side wall means and a pair of shorter side wall means extending between the elongate side wall means, the apparatus comprising: a conveyor along which the bottles are led in an upright configuration for presentation to a labelling machine, the bottles being randomly arranged on the conveyor, a first set of bottles being arranged in a desired configuration for labelling with the shorter side wall means - 2 extending substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a second set of bottles being arranged with the shorter side wall means extending substantially longitudinally with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and bottle orienting means for orienting the second bottles so that the shorter side wall means extends substantially transversely across the conveyor, the bottle orienting means comprising stop means against which a leading edge of a second bottle is engaged; and turning means for turning the second bottle into the desired orientation with the shorter side wall means « extending substantially transversely across the conveyor, the stop means comprising recess means into which a leading corner of a second bottle is engaged to define a pivot about which the bottle is turned into the desired orientation, the recess means including an angled lead-in portion and a steeper angled turning and lead-out portion.

Typically the recess means is defined in a side rail means extending along a portion of one side of the conveyor.

♦ Typically the rail means is mounted for adjustment of the position of the recess with respect to the conveyor. > In a preferred arrangement the rail means is mounted for adjustment of the longitudinal and transverse position with respect to the conveyor.

In one embodiment the rail means comprises a pair of vertically spaced-apart side rails, each having vertically aligned recesses.

Preferably the side rails have a common adjustment means for simultaneous adjustment of the longitudinal and transverse position of the recesses with respect to the conveyor.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the turning means comprises a drive element which is driven by a drive means to turn the second bottle ih the stop means.

Preferably the drive element comprises a drive belt which is driven against the shorter side wall means of the second bottle.

In one arrangement the drive belt is arranged above the conveyor adjacent one side thereof for engagement with a shorter side wall of a second bottle travelling along the conveyor.

In one embodiment of the invention the drive belt is trained about a pair of spaced-apart pulleys.

Preferably the drive belt is of friction gripping material.

In a preferred arrangement spacer means are provided for adjusting the position of the pulley wheels and hence the drive belt, as desired.

Preferably the apparatus includes a scrambler unit upstream of the bottle orienting means which delivers empty bottles onto the conveyor means.

In a preferred arrangement the apparatus includes a filling unit downstream of the bottle orienting means which delivers filled bottles to a capping unit and subsequently to a bottle labelling unit.

In another aspect the invention provides a method for handling and filling bottles each of which has a body of elongate shape in transverse cross section, the body having a pair of elongate side wall means and a pair of shorter side wall means extending between the elongate side wall means the method comprising the steps of :delivering empty bottles onto a conveyor means, a first set of bottles being arranged in a desired configuration for labelling with the shorter side wall means extending substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a second set of bottles being arranged with the shorter side wall means extending substantially longitudinally with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor; engaging each second bottle against a stop means, the stop means comprising recess means into which a leading corner of a second bottle is engaged to define a pivot, the recess means including an angled lead-in portion and a steeper angled turning and lead-out portion; turning each second bottle about the stop means until the ♦ shorter side wall means extends substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor; * filling the bottles; capping the filled bottles; applying a label to at least one side wall means of each bottle; and packing the bottles.

Preferably the method includes the stop of turning at least some of the bottles into a desired configuration prior to packing.

The invention also provides bottles whenever handled and/or filled using the method or apparatus of the invention.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following descriptions that are given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a method of handling and filling bottles according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of bottle handling apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an apparatus for handling bottles according to the invention; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 3 in use; and Fig. 5 is an end elevation, partially crosssectional view of the apparatus of Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Fig. 1 thereof there is illustrated a method and apparatus for handling and filling bottles according to the invention. Empty bottles are delivered from a scrambler unit 2 onto a conveyor including a bottle orienting unit 3 which orients all of the bottles in a desired orientation as will be described in more detail below for presentation to a filler unit 4. The filled bottles are then capped in a capping unit 5. Labels are applied to the bottles in a labelling unit 6. When filled, labelled bottles may be turned again into a desired orientation in a second orienting unit 7 for delivery to a packing station 8 where a number of bottles are arranged together on a tray and plastic packaging film applied. The film is heat sealed at a sealing station 9 and a number of the heat sealed trays of bottles are palletised in a palletising station .

In more detail and referring to Fig 1.Ά, each of the bottles in the method and apparatus of the invention has a body of generally elongate shape in transverse cross section, the body having a pair of elongate side wall means 11 and a pair of shorter side wall means 12 extending between the elongate side wall means 11. The bottles 1 are delivered from the scrambler unit 2 generally in one of two orientations, namely, a first desired orientation as illustrated in Fig 2 by the reference IA with the shorter side walls 12 arranged substantially transversely with respect to the direction of travel on a conveyor 15 onto which the bottles 1 are delivered from the scrambler unit 2 or a second orientation illustrated by the reference IB in Fig. 2 in which the shorter side walls 12 are arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 15 along which the bottles are led. Bottle orienting means orients the second set of bottles IB so that the shorter side walls 12 extends substantially transversely across the conveyor 15 so that all of the bottles are arranged in the same desired orientation on presentation to the filling unit 4 and labelling unit 6.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2 to 5, the bottle orientating means 3 comprises stop means 20 arranged at one side of the conveyor 15 and turning means 21 arranged at the opposite side of the conveyor 15.

The stop means 20 comprises a recess *25 into which a leading comer of a second bottle IB is engaged to define a pivot about which the bottle IB is turned into the desired orientation as illustrated in Fig. 4. The recess 25 includes an angled lead-in portion 25A and a steeper angled turning and lead-out portion 25B. A recess 25 is defined in each of a pair of vertically spaced-apart side rails 30 arranged along one side of the conveyor 15. The side rails 30 are joined by interconnecting webs 31 and are arranged for longitudinal and transverse adjustment of the interconnecting webs 31 against the rails 30 and recesses 25 with respect to the conveyor 15. A link rod 34 having a pair of spaced-apart elongate slots 35 is mounted to the connecting webs 31 by pins 36 extending through the slots 35. Transverse rods 37 are arranged at the ends of the longitudinal rod 34 and extend through transverse holes in cylindrical mounting blocks 38. Screw-down adjustment knobs 39 extend through the cylindrical blocks 38 to engage the transverse rods 37 to fix rods 37 and hence the recesses 25 in a desired position relative to the conveyor 15. Adjustment in the longitudinal direction is by unscrewing the pins 36 and allowing the connecting rails 31 with the rails 30 attached to move through the slots 35 to a desired longitudinal position with respect to the conveyor 15. In - 8 this way, the longitudinal and transverse positions of the recesses 25 may be readily easily set and modified to suit a desired size or shape of bottle and for maintenance.

The turning means 21 comprises a drive belt 40 trained about a pair of pulley wheels 41, one of which is driven by a drive motor and gear arrangement 45. Spacer means (not shown) are provided for adjustment of the position of the pulley wheels 41 and hence the drive belt 40, as desired. Preferably the drive belt is of a friction gripping material and is driven by the motor and gear arrangement 45 at a faster speed than that of the conveyor .

In use, the second series of bottles IB with their shorter side walls arranged in parallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor 15 are gripped between the side rails 30 and drive belt 40 until the leading corner of the bottle IB reaches the lead in portion 25A of the recesses 25. The bottle IB then is angled into the recess 25 as illustrated in Fig. 2 and the drive belt 40 turns the bottle in the recess 25 as it is travelling along the conveyor 15 so that the shorter side edge 12 is arranged in the desired configuration extending substantially transversely with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor 15.

The positioning of the recesses 25 and the positioning of the drive belt 40 and its driven speed is set to a particular bottle size. When it is desired to change from one bottle size to another the drive belt and recesses are readily easily adjusted.

The invention provides an apparatus for handling bottles which readily orients bottles travelling at high speed along a conveyor into a desired orientation for presentation to high speed operated equipment including filling, capping and labelling units. Because all of the bottles are orientated in a desired position, the downstream units may be operated at maximum high speed capacity, thus substantially increasing throughput and efficiency. In addition, because the bottles are all correctly oriented, there is minimum down time and substantially no manual intervention is required thus providing even greater efficiencies.

It will be appreciated that a bottle orienting unit similar to the unit 3 described as references 2 to 5 may be utilised to orient bottles in a desired configuration for any operation for example, for packaging.

Many variations on the specific embodiment of the invention described may be readily apparent and according to the invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described, but may be varied in both construction and detail.

Claims (19)

1. Apparatus for handling bottles each of which has a body » of elongate shape in transverse cross section, the body having a pair of elongate side wall means and a pair of * shorter side wall means extending between the elongate « side wall means, the apparatus comprising: a conveyor along which the bottles are led in an upright configuration for presentation to a labelling machine, the bottles being randomly arranged on the conveyor, a first set of bottles being arranged in a desired configuration for labelling with the shorter side wall means extending substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a second set of bottles being arranged with the shorter side wall means extending substantially longitudinally with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor; bottle orienting means for orienting the second bottles so that the shorter side wall means extends substantially transversely across the conveyor, the bottle orienting means comprising stop means against which a leading edge of a second bottle is engaged; and turning means for turning the second bottle into the desired orientation with the shorter side wall means extending substantially transversely across the conveyor; the stop means comprising recess means into which a leading corner of a second bottle is engaged to define a pivot about which the bottle is turned into the desired orientation; the recess means including an angled lead-in portion and a steeper angled turning and lead-out portion.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the recess means is defined in a side rail means extending along a portion of one side of the conveyor.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rail means is mounted for adjustment of the position of the recess with respect to the conveyor.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the rail means is mounted for adjustment of the longitudinal and transverse position with respect to the conveyor.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4 wherein the rail means comprises a pair of vertically spaced-apart side rails, each having vertically aligned recesses.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the side rails have a common adjustment means for simultaneous adjustment of the longitudinal and transverse position of the recesses with respect to the conveyor.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein the turning means comprises a drive element which is driven by a drive means to turn the second bottle in the stop means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the drive element comprises, a drive belt which is driven against the shorter side wall means of the second bottle.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the drive belt is arranged above the conveyor adjacent one side thereof for engagement with a shorter side wall of a second bottle travelling along the conveyor. ΙΟ

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the drive belt is trained about a pair of spaced-apart pulleys.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 8 to 10 wherein the drive belt is of friction gripping material.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 or 11 wherein spacer means are provided for adjusting the position of the pulley wheels and hence the drive belt, as desired.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim including a scrambler unit upstream of the bottle orienting means which delivers empty bottles onto the conveyor means.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim including a filling unit downstream of the· bottle orienting means which delivers filled bottles to a capping unit and subsequently to a bottle labelling unit.

15. Apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A method of handling and filling bottles each of which has a body of elongate shape in transverse cross section, the body having a pair of elongate side wall means and a pair of shorter side wall means extending between the elongate side wall means, the method comprising the steps of sdelivering empty bottles onto a conveyor means, a first set of bottles being arranged in a desired 25 configuration for labelling with the shorter side wall means extending substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor, and a second set of bottles being arranged with the shorter side wall means extending substantially longitudinally with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor; engaging each second bottle against a stop means, the stop means comprising recess means into which a leading corner of a second bottle is engaged to define a pivot, the recess means including an angled 5 lead-in portion and a steeper angled turning and lead-out portion; turning each second bottle about the stop means until the shorter side wall means extends substantially transversely to the direction of travel of the conveyor; filling the bottles; capping the filled bottles; applying a label to at least one side wall means of each bottle; and to packing the bottles.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the method includes the step of turning at least some of the bottles into a desired configuration prior to packing.

18. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with 20 reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. Bottles whenever handled and/or filled using the