US2836947A - Cap feeding and applying mechanism - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY EFAL 2,336,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 23, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORSQ H T Y 0 AE D. K 5 LM I- m 0" W M Y B June 3, 1958 v c. 1.. DAY ETAL 2,836,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 25, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 CARL LL24) 8 7: FREDERICK E. FAUTH ATTORNEYS.

INVENTORS.

June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY ETAL I 2,836,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 25, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN'IURS:

CARL L. DAY 8 FREDERICK E FAUTH ATTORNEYS.

June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY ETAL 2,836,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 25, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 wmika ww ATTORNEYS.

June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY ETAL CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM 1.11 1 0 pk E w g Wpm m L w fl 8 U r F f2 2 w M: m m iv F IL, m 5 5 w w M g f v hog" S 1 June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY HAL 2,836,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 25, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Milli! June 3, 1958 c. 1.. DAY ET AL 2,836,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 Original Filed June 23, 1952 INVENTORS.

s H w w m 8 A 0 V .m 4E .x m

A 0F 1 PM Y B Illillllllk June 3, 1958 c. L. DAY ETAL 2,336,947

CAP FEEDING AND APPLYING MECHANISM Original Filed June 23, 1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTORSI ATTORNEYS.

United States CAP FEEDING AND AFPLYING MECHANlSh/i Carl L. Day and Frederick E. Fauth, Baltimore, Md, as-

signors to Crown Cork & Seal Company, inc, dalth more, Md, a corporation of New York 27 Claims. (Cl. 53-314) The present invention relates to a cap feeding and applying mechanism and, more particularly, to an apparatus for feeding and applying threaded type caps to containers travelling in line on a conveyor after which the caps are secured to the containers by any suitable cap securing mechanism.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 295,024, filed June 23, 1952, now Patent No. 2,734,672, which discloses a cap securing apparatus particularly adapted for use with the present invention. However, it is within the scope of the present invention that the cap feeding and applying mechanism disclosed in this application may be used to feed caps of the non-threaded type to any type of cap securing mechanism.

Numerous cap feeding and applying mechanisms heretofore have been proposed, but such prior apparatus have not been of optimum efliciency in feeding and applying caps to the tops of containers moving at high speeds.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatus which will feed caps properly faced at high speeds to containers moving at high speeds.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap supply means of such design that an adequate supply of properly facing caps will be available for an associated capping means.

Still another object of the present invention, and ancillary to the preceding object, is to provide container actuated means for controlling the supply of caps to a capping chute.

It is well-known practice to supply caps to a chute from a hopper by means of a rotary feeding element. However, in order to compensate for caps facing in the wrong direction, which are returned to the hopper, it is necessary that the feeding element supply caps to the chute at a rate which sometimes may exceed the rate at which caps are removed from the chute outlet. This may result in the feeding element supplying so many caps to the chute that caps will be forced from the outlet or cap applying end of the chute.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means of novel design to prevent caps facing in the wrong direction from reaching the cap supply chute.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cap chute of such design that it readily can be adjusted for various sizes of caps.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cap chute and a means to eliminate caps facing in the wrong direction and both of which are simultaneously adjustable for caps of various sizes.

Most packing plants find it necessary at frequent intervals to change the size of caps when different size containers are being handled. It heretofore has been proposed to make the cap chutes and the cap applying means adjustable for various sizes of caps. However, such adjustments have been difficult to make, particularly where the plant operates according to seasonal requirements and much of the labor employed is relatively unskilled.

We have found that the most satisfactory manner of "atent '2 adjusting a capping and applying mechanism for various sizes of caps is to include with the apparatus a number of cap applying mechanisms of like type, each one being designed to handle a different size cap but all of which readily can be mounted upon the machine frame for co-' operation with the adjustable capping chute.

Another object of the invention is to-provide a cap chute and cap applying mechanism which are so related that the cap applying mechanism readily can be replaced by a similar device and the chute adjusted when caps of another size are to be handled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap fee-ding means including a magnetic disc to move the caps from a hopper to a chute, with the chute and disc so arranged with relation to each other that the caps readily will be removed from the disc and delivered to the chute.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in vertical section of a machine associated with the cap feeding and applying mechanism of the present invention. The views omits the upper portion of the hopper and chute of the cap feeding and applying mechanism.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1, the view including dot-and-dash line showings of portions of the cap feeding and applying mechanism omitted from Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the cap hopper and cap feeding means indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view of the cap hopper and feeding means looking toward Figure 3 from the right. Portions of the end wall of the hopper are broken away.

Figure 5 is a detail elevation of a cap shipping plate included in the cap chute illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a horizontal section on the line 1414 of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view on the line 1515 of Figure 4.

Figure 8 is a detail of the upper portion of the structure shown in Figure 3, the view looking toward Figure 3 in the direction of the arrow 16 of Figure 3.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of a cap applying device included in the invention, portions of the device being broken away on the lines xx and yy of Figure 10 to show how the device is mounted with respect to the lower ends of the cap chute guide rails.

Figure 10 is a side view of the structure shown in Figure 9, that is, the cap applying element and the lower portion of the cap chute.

Figure 11 is a transverse section on the line 12a12a of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is an elevation of the outfeed end of the cap applying element, that is, a view looking toward Figures 9 and 10 from the left.

Figure 13 is a vertical sectional view through the cap applying mechanism.

Figure 14 is a bottom elevation of the cap applying elements of Figures 9, 10 and 12. The view omits the chute bottom wall but shows the chute guide rails.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The construction and operation of the apparatus illustrated in this application as embodying the invention generally may be described as follows:

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the container sealing apparatus includes a base casing or housing 50 including an upper surface or work table 52 across which the top run of a straight line conveyor 54 moves filled jars l or other containers from the left to the right in Figures 1 e earse a and 2. The containers J first will move through a steam tunnel generally indicated so that at least a subsiantial portion of air within the headspace of the container will be displaced by steam. Steam is also supplied through a diffuser 56 positioned adjacent the tunnel exit, cap applying means and cap securing mechanism 74. The apparatus and method thus far described for closing a container under vacuum or the like is the same as described in our copending application Serial No. 405,194, new U. S. Patent No. 2,768,487, filed herewith, which is also a division of the previously mentioned application Serial No. 295,024, filed June 23, 1952.

As is generally indicated in Figures land 13, immediately after a container J leaves the steam tunnel 55, a cap C provided with thread engaging lugs L will be loosely applied to the container by a cap applying element 58 positioned above conveyor 54 and at the lower end of a cap chute 60.

'The caps to be applied to the containers are delivered to the chute 60- from a cap hopper 62 supported above the remainder of the machine as generally indicated in Figures 2 and 3. Hopper 62 is provided at one end with a cap feeding disc 64 including magnetic inserts which cause caps to adhere to the planar face of the disc. Disc 64 is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis to move caps upwardly in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4 and toward the upper end or inlet of chute 60. Disc '64 is driven by a motor 66 (Figure 3) which is so controlled by a container-actuated switch operating arm 68 within steam tunnel 55 (Figure 1) that cap feeding disc 64 only will be driven when containers are moving through the tunnel.

Referring to Figure 4, the cap feeding disc 64 has a discriminator or detector device 70 associated therewith to remove from the disc caps which are facing in the wrong direction, such caps beingcaused to drop back into the hopper. In addition, a spring stripper arm 71 secured to the hopper wall prevents upward movement of superimposed caps and a cam or block 72 rigid with the hopper and overlying an edge of the rotary path of disc 64 insures that the circular line of caps on the disc will not become so long as to exert too much pressure upon the line of caps in chute 60.

The cap chute 60 (Figures 3 and 4) is readily adjustable to handle runs of caps of difierent sizes and the cap applying element .58 (Figures 9 to 13) is of such design that it readily can be removed from the lower end of chute '68 and a similar elementattached to the chute for handling caps of a diiferent size.

After the cap 'C is loosely positioned on the container J, the container and cap will be conveyed to the cap securing mechanism generally indicated by the numeral 74. The-c ap securing mechanism 74 includes a cap presser 76 provided with a horizontally and transversely disposed roller 78 at its infeed end and two horizontal and tandem arranged spring-loaded bars 80 and 82. Roller 78 so cooperates with the cap C as to cause bar 80 to smartly cap or impact the cap to press it downwardly with respect to the container. During movement of container J beneath the cap applying element 58 as well as during its travel through the securing mechanism 74, the body of the container I will be engaged and held against rotation by horizontally arranged and opposed endless belts (not shown). 7

The cap securing mechanism 74 also includes a pair of unthreading members 86 and a pair of threading rolls 92. The cap securing mechanism thus far described will be found in more detail in application Serial No. 295,024,

filed June 23, 1952. As will "be evident to one skilled inthe art, a cap securing mechanism other than the cap securing mechanism 74 may be used in combination with the'cap feeding and applying means of the present invention. w

Cap feeding hopper and agitator assembly The cap feeding hopper 62 including the disc 64 is illustrated in Figures 2 to 8. Referring to Figure 3, hopper 62 is of trough-like shape and is so formed and mounted on the superstructures by a flange 275 that its bottom is downwardly inclined toward the disc 64.- Referring to Figure 4, which shows the hopper 62 as viewed from the right of Figure 3 along the axis of the disc 64, the hopper includes a vertical front wall 276, an inwardly inclined lower wall 277 and, rearwardly thereof, a curved wall 278 extending upwardly to the rear top edge 279 of the hopper. The rear top edge 279 and the forward top edge 280 (Figure 3) normally lie in a horizontal plane. The right-hand end (Figure 3) of the hopper is closed by a wall 281 shown partly broken away in Figure 4. At its left-hand endin Figure 3, hopper 62 includes an agitator housing generally designated 285 which generally conforms to the transverse section of the hopper 62 but includes a vertical wall 286 which covers the dial 64 from left to right in Figure 4 to edges designated 287a and 287b extending from top to bottom of the hopper just rearwardly of the hopper center-line. Hence, a vertically arranged dial contact opening 287 in housing 285 is provided at the right-hand side (Figure 4) of the hopper 62. The caps deposited within the hopper 62 may gravitate into housing 285.

Disc 64 is fixed to a shaft 290 which extends through a journal 291 in agitator housing 285 and has its opposite end journalled in a boss 292 formed at the upper edge of the hopper end wall 281. Disc 64 is provided with a shallow peripheral groove in which a belt 294 is fitted, the belt being driven by. a pulley-device 295 fixed to the shaft of the motor 66. The pulley device 295 may be adjustably mountdfor axial movement upon the motor shaft and provided with pulleys of different sizes to thereby permit the speed of rot'ation of disc 64 to be varied. V 7

Beyond boss 292, shaft 296 carries a sprocket wheel which drives a sprocketchain 296 which also engages a sprocket wheel 297 mounted on a second shaft 29 8 which, as shown in Figure 3, extends parallel toshaft 290. Sprocket wheel 297 is drivingly c'onnectedto'shaft 298 by an overload release clutch299. At its. end ad jacent disc 64, shaft 298 has a-hub. fixed thereto provided with a plurality of radially projecting arms 300.;The arms 300 are provided 'at their outer ends with sweeps or blades 301 rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4. The blades preferably are formed of resilient but relatively rigid material so as not to mar caps and they serve to direct caps which move into agitator housing 285 past edge 287a against disc 64.

As has been indicated above, the container operated switch arm 68 illustrated in Figure 2 as extendingalong tunnel 55, controls the operation of motor 66 which drives hopper impeller blades 301 and disc 64. It will be observed from Figure 2 that arm 68 is pivoted in a housing 680 secured to the work table 52, and the arm is of such length that a single container will hold it outwardly during the time that the container is moving a substantial distance within tunnel 55. Therefore, so long as containers are moving toward cap applying device 58 reasonably spaced apart, arm 68 will be held out wardly and motor 66 will drive the cap feeding elements.

r However, if no container engages arm 68, it will swing inwardly by spring pressure to the position shown in Figure 2, and motor 66 will cease operation. Guide bars, not shown, will hold containers upright'while they engage switch arm 68. r

The provision of the container controlled switch 68 for motor 66 will avoid over-feeding of caps to chute- 60 and the undue stirring of caps in hopper 62 which otherwise would occur during delays in the feeding of containers.

As is indicated in Figure 3, motor 66 may be pivoted to the superstructure 100 in such manner that its weight will properly tension the belt 294 by means of which it drives the cap supply mechanism.

Referring to Figure 6, which is a horizontal section showing the upper wall 302 of the agitator housing 285, it will be observed that this wall of the housing is cut away to provide an opening 303 through which caps may move upwardly from agitator housing 285 with the disc 64. The upper left-hand portion of the agitator housing as viewed in Figure 4 partially may be covered by a curved plate 385 extending from the disc 64 to the opposite end wall of the agitator housing. In order to permit caps to be removed fi'om the hopper when it is desired to operate with caps of a different size, the hopper includes a door 386 pivoted at its lower edge 307 to the wall 277 of the hopper. Figures 3 and 4 show a chute 3439 in phantom outline with its hooks 308 engaged in eyelets 310 fixed to hopper Wall 277. By thus securing the chute 3G9 and then swinging door 306 downwardly,

. caps readily can be removed from the hopper 62 into chute 309.

Disc 64 includes a body plate 315 which is of substantial thickness and is ribbed on its rearward face as indicated at 316 for bracing purposes. Adjacent its circumference, plate 315 is provided with a circumferentially only the lower right-hand portion of disc 64 so that' rotation of disc 64 in the direction of the arrow of that figure, and with the magnetic inserts 317 arranged near the disc periphery, will cause caps which adhere to the disc to be moved upwardly above the hopper and laterally toward the infeed mouth of cap chute 6%. Because the infeed mouth of chute 60 is adjacent the vertical diameter of the disc and the chute then diverges downwardly from the path followed by the magnetic inserts, the inserts will not alfect caps which have moved into the chute.

Other constructional features of the hopper 62 and disc involved in the present invention are described below in connection with the operation of the hopper.

With the disc 64 and the agitator blades 3G1 rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4 and in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 8, as th caps slide downwardly in the hopper 62 toward disc 54,

4) of the travel of the disc 64, caps which become parallel to the disc will adhere to the sheet 318 by the action of the magnetic inserts. Obviously, a cap may adhere in parallel relationship to the disc either with the edge of its skirt against the disc, which is the desired position, or with the skirt facing away from the disc. The action of the magnets may cause a cap lying directly against the disc to pick up a second cap sothat the second cap will be superposed upon the first. Superposcd caps will be stripped from the cap which is immediately adjacent the disc 64 by the spring stripper arm 71 shown in Figures 4 and 6. As is clear from Figure 6, the edge 329 of stripper arm 71 is positioned sufficiently close to the adjacent surface of disc 64 that only one cap may move with disc 64 past stripper 71, any superposed cap falling back into the hopper.

As is best shown in Figures 4 and 6, a rim piece 323 extends upwardly from the agitator housing 285 and lies immediately adjacent the forward surface of disc 64. As is indicated in Figures 4 and 6, a pair of plates 330 and 331. lie parallel with the inner face of disc 64, the

ill

faces of the plates adjacent disc 64 being spaced from the disc surface by a distance corresponding to the height of the caps. These plates thereby insure that the caps on the upper portion of disc 64 and in readiness for movement to the chute 69 cannot become nested by reason of an accumulation of caps in that'area. The plates 339 and 331 are supported by a cowling 332 which overlies the upper portion of disc 64, cowling 332 being fixed to the rim piece 323 and to a standard 334 supported upon the agitator housing 285.

As shown in Figures 4-, 6 and 8, a cam block 72 is fixed to plate 33% so as to lie adjacent the forward surface of the disc, block 72 thereby projecting into the line of travel of the magnetic inserts 317. Therefore, as a cap C moves upwardly with disc 64 by adherence to the mag netic inserts, the cap will engage the lower surface 325 of block 72 as indicated by the cap Cc in Figure 4 and so that the cap will be forced toward the axis of the disc by edge 325. However, the far edge 326 of block 72 recedes from edge 3155 at an acute angle so that when a cap reaches edge 326 (as indicated by the cap Cd of Figure 4) the cap will be free to move closer to the magnetic insorts and the edge of the disc. It will be understood that caps at Cc and Cd still will be under the influence of the magnetic inserts and hence will move along in a counterclockwise direction with the disc while in contact with the edges 325 and 326 of the block. In normal operation, caps will accumulate adjacent the inlet of chute 60 and to the left of block 72 as indicated in the upper portion of Figure 4. That is, some caps will lie in an upper are directly against the path of the magnetic inserts and other caps may adhere thereto in a lower row or arc. Even though the above caps may be stationary for a few moments, depending upon the rate of removal of caps from chute 60, nevertheless, the rotation of disc 64 beneath such caps will exert pressure upon them so that they all tend to push to the left in Figure 4. It will be observed from Figure 4 that the only caps in a position to exert pressure on caps in the chute 60 are those to the left of the block 72. In other words, the caps which have not yet reached block 72 cannot press against the caps in the chute because block 72 diverts their pressure. This arrangement is desirable because if all of the caps being lifted by disc 64 were in an arcuate line leading directly to the mouth of the chute 60, a suliicient pressure could be built up in the chute to force caps from its lower end.

in order that caps which are facing in the wrong direction will be returned to the lower portion of the agitator housing 285, the disc 64 has the selector or discriminator 76 associated therewith. As is best illustrated in Figures 4, 6 and 8, the discriminator is an arm or strip of metal depending from a horizontal rod 335 mounted on a slide 333 vertically adjustable in the standard 334 as hereinafter described. As shown in Figure 6, the discriminator lies substantially in the plane of the plates 330 and 331 and outwardly of a horizontal guide bar 336 fixed to cowling 332. Bar 336 is a top guide bar in that it limits the upward movement of the caps. Throughout most of its length, arm 70 is substantially parallel with disc 64. However, as illustrated in Figure 7, the lower end of tip 337 of discriminator 70 is bent toward the disc 64 and normally lies at a distance from the disc less than the height of a cap skirt. The discriminator arm 70 is formed of spring metal so that its lower portion may bend away from disc 64.

The operation of discriminator 70 is as follows: When a cap having its skirt edge bearing against the disc 64 moves beneath discriminator 7d, the discriminator 70 will bend outwardly from the disc and its tip 337 will ride upon the wall W of the cap. This action is assisted by the fact that the lower end of the discriminator is spaced below the top guide bar 336 by a distance less than the diameter of a cap C. Hence, a cap moving along in contact with top guide bar 336 first will have the lower portion S (Figure 4) of its rounded periphery come into engagement with the discriminator tip 337 so that the tip of arm 7% is, in elfect, cammed outwardly by the cap periphery. Therefore, the cap simply will move to the left, with the tip 337 of arm 78 hearing on the top wall of; the cap and finally dropping off the trailing portion of the cap top wall.

In the event that a cap moving with disc 64 and along top guide bar 336 has the edge of its skirt facing away from the disc 64, the tip 337 of the discriminator will be canlmed outwardly by the rounded edge of the skirt to climb over that edge. However, the continued movement of the cap to the left in Figure 4 will bring the inner wall of the skirt portion designated S in Figure 4 against the side edge of discriminator tip 337. Because this surface is substantially parallel to the facing edge of tip 337, the movement of the cap to the left with disc 64 will be retarded. This retardation of the cap will be sufficient to release it from the magnetic insert 317 to which it has been adhering, so the result will be that the cap will fall downwardly toward the bottom of the agitator housing 285. A cap having its skirt facing away from disc 6 sometimes may hang on the discriminator tip for afew moments as indicated by the cap Ce of Figure4, and until the tip is moved'outwardly again by a succeeding cap but, in any=event, such a cap cannot again be picked up by the magnetic inserts.

A Because discriminator 78 is vertically movable with the slide 333 and with respect to top guide bar 336, the position of the tip 337 of discriminator 70 with re spect to guide bar 336 can be varied in accordance with the diameter of the caps being handled. It will be noted that tip 337 always must be spaced below top guide bar 336 by a distance slightly less than the diameter of the caps being handled.

Cap chute and cap applying element Figure 3 illustrates the cap chute 68 as viewed from the front of the machine. It will be observed from this view that the upper portion of the chute, that is, the portion above the adjusting bracket 34G, lies closely adjacent the forward surface of the disc 64. Below bracket 340, chute 60 is curved upwardly so thatits lower end and the cap applying elemenbSS will lie at the proper angle to enable the cap applying elements to position caps upon containers as indicated in Figure 13.

Figure 4 shows the cap chute 60 as viewed from the right or outlet end of the machine. That is, Figure 4 views Figure 3 from the rightpbut Figure 4 omits the cap applying element 58. As is illustrated in Figure 4, the cap chute Gilgenerally may be described as comprising an "inner upper guide 345, an inner lower guide 346, and an outerv guide-347; As is hereinafter described, the upper portion of chute 60 lies parallel and closely adjacentdisc 64 so that the disc there forms the bottom wall of the chute. 'Because the lower portion of chute 6! curves .awayfrom disc 64 as shown in Figure 3, a plate structure generally designated 348 forms the bottom wall of the this portion of the chute.

The inner upper guide 345 includes a plate 356 which is pivoted at its upper end to the slide 333 by means of a pin or screw 351. On itsundersurface, plate 35%) has a channehmember 352 welded thereto with'the channel open toward disc 64. Channel member terminates about midway ofthe length of plate 356. A bar member 353 lies beneath 'the lower portion of plate 359'and is enclosed by at least the lower portion of the length of channel member 352. Member 353 is pivoted at 354 to the lower inner guide 346. Plate 350-extends inwardly of the channel member 352 and bar 353 to thereby overlie capswhich have their skirts bearing against the channel members.

The lower inner guide 346 includes a bar 356 and a plate 357, the bar being adapted to be engaged by the cap skirts while the plate portion 357,'like"the plate portion 350-, overlies the caps to retain them in the chute. As Will be clear from a consideration of Figures 3 and 4, upper inner guide 345' 'lies flat and close against disc 64 but lower inner guide 346 curves outwardly from disc 64.

The outer guide 347 includes a bar 358 which has its upper end notched as indicated at 359 in Figure 3 to slidably engage a :complemental notch at the outer end of the top "or horizontally extending guide bar 336 fixed to cowling 332'. Bar 358 extends the entire distance from top guide bar 336 to the cap applying element 58. Its upper portion lies close to disc 64 but its lower portion curves outwardly as shown in Figure 3. a

At its upper'end, guide bar 358 extends beneath a plate 360 depending. from and secured to top guide bar 336, plate 36 thereby retaining caps in this portion of the chute. A plate 361 is positioned upon the bar 358 below plate 360, the connection between plate 361 and bar 358 including headed screws in the bar and horizontal slots 362 in the plate. A'flat.'spring 363 secured to the edge of bar 358 normally holds plate-361 in the position extending beyond bar 358 indicated in Figure 4, to therebyretain capsin the chute. If it is desired to remove'caps from this portion ofthe chute, plate 361 may bemoved to the left-as viewed in Figure 4 against the action of spring 363. Bar 358 also has a bowed spring 364 fixed to its inner and upper portion to deflect caps downwardly.

A plate 365 is fixed to and overlies the-lower portion of bar 358 to cooperate with plate 357 in retaining caps in the lower portion of the chute.

As will be apparent from Figures 3 and 4, and'par-ticularly Figure 4, the disc64 forms the bottom wall of the upper portion of chute 60 in that caps moving through that portion of the chute Will-have their skirt edges hearing on the disc. Generally speaking, the caps are stripped from the magnetic inserts by the bowed spring 364 at the upper end of the chute. Because chute 60 extends downwardly along a line inwardly of the path of travel of the magnetic inserts 317, the caps will move downwardly in the chute and upon the disc entirely free of the magnetic action of the inserts. 4 that the ,upper portion of chute 60 angles outwardly from the vertical plane in which the disc axis lies, but that the lower portion of the chute extends parallel to the plane'of the disc axis but inwardly of the line of travel of the magnetic inserts. The curvature of the lower end of the chute away from the lower portion of the path of travel of disc 64' carries the caps well away from the effect of the inserts.

With the lower portion of the chute curved away from disc 64 slightly below the upper end of the lower inner guide member 346, it is desirable to provide a stripper plate 366 at the upper portion of the chute bottom wall 348. Asillustrated in Figure 4, plate 366 is secured to a bracket 367 fixed to the agitator housing 285, plate 366 being held to bracket 367 by machine screws extending through apertures 368 (Figure 5) .at the lowermost corners of plate 366. As also is shown in Figure 5, stripper plate 366 includes an upwardly projecting and curved tongue 369 which, as shown in Figure 4, lies in a circumferential groove 370 formed on the front face of disc 64. Plate 366 and its tongue 369 are slightly concaved on its side facing away from disc 64 with the result that tongue 369 may lie in groove 370. In addition, the upper portion of plate 366 is beveled on its rearward surface asindicated at 371'and tongue'369 has its free end thinned toward its point. Also, the outer face of the upper edge of plate 366 is beveled as indicated at 372 and extends angularly downwardly from tongue 369. By this arrangement, caps moving downwardly through the upper portion of chute 60011 disc 64 will be stripped from the disc by riding up on the tongue 369 lying in groove'3'l10,

the beveled edge 372 permitting the caps toslide readily It will be noted from Figure 9 includes a curved plate 373 secured at its uppermost edge to the bracket 367. The lower portion of plate 373 is secured to a bar 374 (Figure: and 12) which, in turn, is secured below a bracket 375 also shown in the lower portion of Figures 3 and 4 as bolted to superstructure 100. It will be noted from Figure 12 that bar 374 is spaced below bracket 375 by collars 376 which surround the screws which hold bar 374 to bracket 375. Screws 377 hold plate 373 to the upper surface of bar 374 and the collars 376 provide space between plate 373 and the undersurface of bracket 375 for the guides 346 and 347. As is best indicated in Figures 4 and 10, the lower end 380 of plate 373 is cut to V form in plan. Plate 373 is flat adjacent bracket 375 and the cap applying mecha nism 58, but lies at an angle of about 45 to the vertical.

Lower inner guide 346 and outer guide 347 are provided with tapped holes to receive studs 335 and 336, respectively, which project through slots 387 extending crosswise of bracket 34d. Hand wheels designated 389 and 399, respectively, are provided with studs 335 and 386 to thereby clamp the guides in adjusted position with respect to each other and brackets 34! As is best shown in Figure 10, the lower ends of the lower inner cap guide 346 and the outer cap guide 347 each are provided with a threaded aperture 391, and these apertures respectively are aligned with slots 392 in bracket 375. As also shown in Figure 10, bolts 393 are threaded in the apertures 391 and the bolts are headed at their upper ends. The bolts ordinarily are not tightened and, therefore, the two guides in question can be moved toward and away from each other upon loosening of the hand wheels 3323 and 3%.

In order to adjust the upper inner guide bar 345 for various sizes of caps, the slide 333 in standard 334 is moved vertically by rotation of handle 395 in the proper direction. Handle 395 is threadedly connected to slide 333 in such manner that rotation of the handle will move the slide vertically. As has been stated above, the horizontal rod 335 which supports discriminator finger 70 also is secured to the slide. Slide 333 includes a pointer 396 movable along a scale 397 fixed to the rear face of standard 334. Scale 397 carries graduated markings corresponding to various cap sizes. Therefore, with pointer 396 aligned with a particular scale marking, both discriminator 7t) and the plate 350 and upper channel 352 of the upper inner guide 345 will be at the proper height with respect to the top guide bar 336 to accommodate caps of a given size. Because the two channel members 352 and 353 of upper guide 345 are telescopically connected and the lower member 353 is pivoted at 354 to lower inner guide 356, the vertical movement of slide. 333 will slightly change the angle of the upper inner guide 345 with respect to the lower inner guide 346. This movement is possible because of the pivot connections 351 and 354.

The cap applying device 58 is illustrated in detail in Figures 9 to 13 and 14. The device of Figure 14 is adapted to handle caps of a larger size than the device of Figures 9 to 13 but bears like reference numerals. As best shown in Figure 13, it generally may be described as including an upper body portion 460 which may be a casting of generally U-shaped form in transverse section to thereby provide a cap passage 401 defined by the undersurface of body 4% and the depending side walls or legs 403 of the casting. The body 400 is provided at its upper end with a boss 4434 which is apertured to carry the shank of a hand wheel 405, the threaded bore of the hand wheel shank being adapted to engage a threaded stud 406 which extends vertically upwardly from the chute supporting bracket 375. As shown in Figure 13, the underside of the upper end of body 400 is so cut away that a depending shoulder 4%! on the body will engage against the upper edge 408 of bracket 375 and a lower shoulder 409 on body 408 will bear upon the vertical and lower face 410 on bracket 375. The surface 411 of body 400 10 between shoulders 407 and 409 will lie flat upon the upper surface 411' of bracket 375.

As is evident from Figures 9 and 10, the lower end of the bar 358 of the outer cap guide 347 is stepped as viewed from above to include two end surfaces 412 and 413 and both of these surfaces are inclined to the length of the bar to thereby lie in a vertical plane or at least a plane parallel to the axis of the stud 466. The surface 412 is the outermost and lowermost surface of bar 358 and an inwardly facing shoulder 414 is thereby provided on bar 358 between the surfaces 412 and 413. The bar 356 of the inner and lower cap guide 346 also has its lowermost end provided with corresponding surfaces 412', 413, and 414, the surface 412 being outermost and lowermost so that the surface 414' faces toward the center line of the chute.

As also appears in Figures 9 and 10, the ends of the 7 side walls 493 of body 408 which lie opposite the inclined and shouldered ends of the bars 356 and 358 are shouldered and inclined to complement the bar surfaces. Hence, when cap applying element 58 is moved vertically downwardly upon the stud 406 to the position illustrated in Figure 13, and the bars 356 and 358 are properly adjusted, the opposed surfaces of the body 430 and the bars 356 and 358 will snugly engage each other.

As is best shown in Figure 14, which is a bottom plane of a cap applying element 58, the bottom surface 429 of each side wall 403 has a plate 421 secured thereto, the two plates thereby forming the bottom wall of the lower portion of the cap applying means. The opposed edges 422 of the two plates preferably are spaced apart but their edges 423a lie at such an angle with respect to each other as to define a V. As is best shown in Figure 12, each of the plates 4 2i is provided with an upstanding shoulder 423 against which the lowermost cap in the chute will rest, it being necessary to lift the lowermost cap in the chute over the shoulders 423 to remove it from the chute. As indicated in Figures 9 and 10, a retainer plate 424 pivoted on a pin 425 extending horizontally across body 400 normally holds the lowermost cap downwardly against the plates 421 and in contact with the stop shoulders 423. However, plate 424 includes an upstanding ear 426 against which a spring 427 bears, the opposite end of the spring being mounted in a pocket 428 in body 4%. Hence, when a container mouth engages the lowermost cap C as indicated in Figure 13, retainer plate 424 may swing upwardly against the action of spring 427 to thereby permit the cap to be lifted over the shoulders 423.

As has been stated above, and as is illustrated in Figure 4, the lowermost end of the bottom wall plate 373 is cut in plan to form a \i including a centrally projecting apex. The fact that the edges 423a of the plates 421 secured to body 4% are similarly formed will permit the edges 423:: of the plates 421 to snugly engage the ends of the chute bottom plate. The opposed edges of the chute bottom plate and the plates 421 lie in vertical planes when the cap applying element is mounted upon the chute because the opposed surfaces are bevelled. Because the adjoining edges are of J form in plan and hence do not extend directly crosswise of the line of movement of the caps, caps cannot abut against the edge surfaces.

A cappin apparatus of the present invention ordinarily would be provided with a number of cap applying elements 58 of the type illustrated in Figures 9 and 13 and 14, but each element 53 would be so formed as to provide a cap passage 401 of a different width and to accommodate a standard size skirted cap. For example, it will be observed that the side walls 403 of the element 58 illustrated in Figure 14 have their inner surfaces spaced further apart than the cap applying element illustrated in Figures 9 to 13. However, the overall dimensions of all of the cap applying elements 58 supplied would be substantially identical. By this arrangement, when the machine has been operating to handle caps of one standard size, for example, a relatively large size, such asthe 70 mm. size, and it is thenxdesired to use the machine to apply a smaller size cap, for example, 38 mm. caps, the following operation will accomplish the adjustment: The operator will disengage the threaded hand wheel '405 from the stud 5 36 on the bracket 375 so that the large sized cap applying element 58 can be lifted directly from the end of the chute 69 by straight line vertical movement; Then the operator will position a cap applying element 5?, for 38 mm. caps upon the end of the chute and in the position illustrated in Figure 13, the handle 405 of the new element 58 being engaged with the stud 4% and the surfaces 307, 409, and 411 of the cap applying element being fitted against the corresponding surfaces ofthe bracket 375.

Then the operator would loosen the hand or clamping wheels 389 and 390 so that the inner guide elements 345 and 346 and the outer guide element 347 will be free for movement toward each other. The crank 395 shown at thetop of Figure 4 may be rotated to bring the pointer 3% (Figure 8) opposite the 38 mm. indicia on the gauge plate 397, thereby positioning the detector or discriminator finger 70 at the proper height for 38 mm. caps and simultaneously positioning the inner guide rail 345 at the proper position with respect to top guide 336 to handle 38 mm. caps. When the operator then slides the inner lower guide 346 inwardly so that its lower end shoulder 414' is in engagement with the opposed surface on the cap applying element and with the outer edge 43-0 of the guide 346 parallel to the inner edge 33i of the bottom wall of the chute as shown in Figure 4, the inner guide elements of the chute may be locked in position by threading the hand wheel 339 to clamping position. When the outer guide rail 347 is moved inwardly to bring its bottom end surface 414 (Figure 9) against the opposed surface of the cap applying element and when the outer edge 432 of this guide is parallel to the outer edge 433 of chute bottom wall 372, the outer hand wheel 3% may be tightened. to clamp the outer guide 347 in the proper position.

As indicated in Figure 4, the bottom wall elements 366 and 373 are of a width to support the guides 346 and 347 when the latter are spread to accommodate caps of maximum size.

it will be observed from the foregoing that the matter of changing the chute and cap applying means, as well as the detector or discriminator finger 70, to handle different sizes of caps, quickly can be performed and with a of operations,

The terminology used in this specification is for the purpose of description and not for limitation as the scope of t invention is defined in the claims.

We claim:

lfIn a cap applying mechanism, a cap chute comprising a bottom wall and side guide members movable with respect to each otheron said bottom wall, a supporting bracket for said bottom wall and adapted to be fixed to a machine frame to extend horizontally, the cap outfeeding ends of said side guide members and said bottom wail being positioned adjacent the outfeed side of said bracket, a cap applying element to receive caps rem outfeed end of said chute and position them upon containers moving below said element on the machi .e frame, said cap applying element including a body provided with side walls and a bottom wall to thereby provide a cap passage through the lower portion of said body, said body being provided at its cap receiving end recesses including outwardly facing shoulders to rec yo and space apart the outfeed ends of said guide members, said bottom wall being positioned in the plane cfthe bottom wall of said chute, and means to secure said. guide members in adjusted position.

A mechanism. of the character described in claim 1 wherein the shouldered-recesses .of said cap applying element body open laterally outwardly.

3. A mechanism of the character described in claim 1 whereinthe shouldered recesses of said cap applying element body open downwardly so that the elementmay 5. A mechanism of the character defined in claim 4 wherein said stud extends at an acute angle to said chute bottom wall, and said guide, members and recesses include opposed transverse surfaces extending parallel to said stud.

6. A mechanism of the character described in claiml wherein the cap outfeeding end of the chute bottom Wall is V-shaped in plan to provide a centrally projectingapex. 7. A mechanism of the character described in claim 1 wherein the cap outfeeding end of the chute bottom wall is V-shaped in plan to provide a centrally projecting apex and the bottom wall of the cap applying element is formed of two plates, each provided with an edge complementary to the adjoining edge of said bottom wall.

8. A mechanism of the character described in claim 1 wherein said chute guide members lie entirely above the chute bottom wall.

9. In a capping apparatus, a cap hopper, means-to feed caps in a horizontal stream from said hopper and in edgewise relation, a chute to receive the horizontally moving caps and feed them downwardly, said chute including a pair of cap guiding members, one positioned directly in the path of horizontal outfeeding movement of the caps with said means so as to divert the caps downwardly, the second guide member having its upper end, below therhorizontal path of the caps with said means;

and means to adjust said second guide member with-respect to the horizontal path of the caps with said capv feeding means.

10. A capping apparatus of the character described in. claim 9 wherein said guide members aremovable toward. and away from each other, and means to secure said members in adjusted position.

11. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 9 wherein said guide members are movable toward and away from each other, said second guide member is longitudinally telescopic, and means to secure said.

members in adjusted position.

12. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said disc having its planar face opening to said hopper provided with magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere and arranged in a circumferential series of such radius as to be movable upwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, a guide bar fixed with respect to said hopper at the upper portion of said path and adapted to be engaged by cap skirts to maintain caps moving with said disc at a predetermined distance from the disc axis, and a spring detent urged toward the planar face of said disc, said spring detent being spaced from said bar and toward the disc axis by a distance less than a cap diameter, and said detent normally being spaced from the disc planar face by a distance less than the height of a cap skirt. a

13. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said disc having'its planar face opening to said hopper provided with magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere and arranged in a circumferential series of such radius as to be movable upwardly in a pathv above the caps in said hopper, a guide bar fixed with respect" assepav 14. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 13 wherein the free end of said spring arm is spaced from said guide bar by a distance substantially greater than the radius of the caps but less than the cap diameter.-

15. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 13 wherein the free end of said spring arm is spaced from said guide bar by a distance substantially greater than the radius of the caps but less than the cap diameter, and said guide bar has its cap engaging surface lying immediately adjacent the path of travel of said magnetic inserts.

16. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 13 including means to support said spring arm for adjusting movement toward and from the axis of said disc.

17. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 13 including a cap chute formed of spaced cap skirt engaging guide rails, said chute having its cap receiving inlet positioned beyond said arm and immediately below said guide bar so that said guide bar forms the outer cap guide rail of the chutev 18. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 13 including a cap chute formed of spaced cap skirt engaging guide rails having its cap receiving inlet positioned beyond said arm and immediately below said guide bar so that said guide bar forms the outer cap guiding rail of the chute, including means to support the inner cap guiding rail of said chute and said spring arm for adjusting movement with respect to the axis of said disc.

19. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said disc having its planar face opening to said hopper provided with magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere and arranged in a circumferential series of such radius as to be movable upwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, a cap receiving chute including spaced cap skirt engaging guide rails including a portion lying in a plane adjacent said planar face of said disc and extending along lines substantially tangential to the circular path of travel of the magnetic inserts and above the caps in said hopper, and a cap skirt engaging flange fixed above said hopper and projecting over said disc planar face in advance of the chute inlet to hold caps moving with said disc and adjacent said flange in a path closer to said disc axis than said chute.

20. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said disc having its planar face opening to said hopper provided with magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere and arranged in a circumferential series of such radius as to be movable upwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, a cap receiving chute including spaced cap skirt engaging guide rails including a portion lying in a plane adjacent said planar face of said disc and extending along lines substantially tangential to the circular path of travel of the magnetic inserts and above the caps in said hopper, to thereby remove caps from the magnetic inserts, said chute including a second and lower portion lying adjacent said disc but positioned out of the path of travel of the magnet inserts, a third portion inclined away from the plane of said disc, and means positioned forward of the inlet of said chute to move caps momentarily out of alignment therewith whereby pressure on caps in said chute from caps in the path of said hopper is at a minimum.

21. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a disc at one end of said hopper rotatable in a vertical plane, said disc having its planar face opening to said hopper provided with magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere and arranged in a circumferential series of such radius as to be movable upwardly in a path above the caps in said hopper, and a spring stripper arm fixed with respect to said hopper and above the caps in the hopper, said arm including an edge parallel to and spaced from the planar face of said disc by a distance greater than the height of a single cap but less than the height of two caps.

22. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a cap conveyor movable through said hopper, said conveyor having its face opening to said hopper provided with spaced magnetic inserts to which caps will adhere, and a spring arm supported adjacent said conveyor, said arm having its free end bent toward said face of said conveyor to engage the interior of a cap moving along said conveyor with its skirt facing away from the conveyor to cam the cap off of the magnetic inserts.

23. In a capping apparatus for skirted caps, a cap hopper, a cap conveyor movable through said hopper, said conveyor being provided with magnetic inserts spaced lengthwise thereof on a given line, a cap receiving chute including spaced cap skirt engaging guide rails in contact with said conveyor and extending in alignment with the path of travel of the magnetic inserts, and a cap skirt engaging block projecting over said conveyor in advance of the chute inlet to hold caps moving with the conveyor in a path out of alignment with said chute.

24. In capping apparatus, a cap hopper, a disc mounted for rotation through the caps in said hopper, said disc being provided on one planar face with a circular series of magnetic inserts to which caps in the hopper will adhere, said planar 'faee being provided with a circular groove adjacent the series of inserts, a fixed chute to receive caps from the planar face of said disc and including an inlet mouth aligned with the circular series of inserts, said chute including a stripper blade positioned in the planar face groove.

25. A capping apparatus of the character described in claim 24 wherein the planar face groove is of less diameter than the circular series of inserts and the stripper blade is mounted in the chute at a point spaced from the chute inlet mouth.

26. In a capping apparatus, a cap hopper, a disc mounted for rotation through the caps in said hopper, said disc being provided on one planar face with a circular series of magnetic inserts to which caps in the hopper will adhere, a fixed chute to receive caps from the disc and including an inlet mouth aligned with the circular series of inserts, and a fixed member overlying the planar face of the disc at a point spaced in advance of the chute inlet mouth, said member extending sufliciently into the path of caps with said inserts to deflect caps out of alignment with said chute inlet mouth but without entirely removing the caps from the inserts.

27. In a capping apparatus, a cap supply hopper, means movable in said hopper to feed caps therefrom, a chute to receive caps from said cap feeding means, a container supporting conveyor movable beneath said chute, means on said chute and above said conveyor to apply caps to containers supported on said conveyor, means to drive said conveyor, means to drive said cap feeding means, means responsive to the presence of containers on said conveyor to control said last-mentioned driving means and rotatable means to secure to the containers caps applied by said applying means, said securing means being driven by said conveyor driving means.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kirkegaard Feb. 8, 1910 Gaynor Nov. 16, 1920 5 Everett June 1, 1937 Newey Apr. 23, 1940 16 Hurley 2. May 29, 1945 DrW-- Oct. 27, 1953 Schweizer 2 Nov; 10, 1953 Courtney Apr. 6, 1954 Haynes Apr. 27, 1954

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