Field of the invention

The invention relates to a rotary column for capping containers, which will find application in light industry, particularly in the food-processing industry in productions where the filled containers are closed with caps.

Brief discussion of the related art

A device for capping containers is known from patent US 2009/0145083 of 1 1.06.2009, which includes a capping head, carried by a hollow support member in the shape of a bracket, allowing for vertical movement and comprising a vertical part which goes through a cover. The device also includes a driving mechanism which provides rotation of the capping head and executes control of the jaws of the capping head; said driving mechanism is mounted entirely within the hollow member which extends above the cover.

A disadvantage of this known device is its complicated structure, as well as the difficulty of its maintenance, especially when cleaning it.

A rotary column for closing containers with screw caps which includes a main drive shaft, at one end of which a gear wheel connected to a motor- reducer group is mounted, is known from EP j\°l 834 923/14.03.2006. To the other end of the main drive shaft, there is an upper guiding member mounted. On the upper guiding member screwing devices are located.

Each screwing device has its own drive motor connected to a small gear wheel which is engaged with a toothed guide, through the centre of which a pusher passes. The upper end of the pusher is fixed to the upper guiding member and the cap, which is to be screwed onto the container, is fixed to its lower end.

At the opposite end of the main drive shaft, above the gear ring, there is a flange mounted via bearings, which is connected to a lifting rod by a lower platform, and lifting rod is also connected to an intermediate platform. A bottle gripping device is mounted on the lifting rod. The lifting rod is also connected to a cam. The container, which is to be screw-capped, is positioned by the rotary motion of the main drive shaft, imparted to the flange, the cam and the lifting rod.

In the known column for closing containers with screw caps, there is driving into motion of the drive shaft, as well as individual driving for each capping head, which complicates the structure and makes the synchronization of movements difficult, which is crucial for the precise operation of the closing column.

Furthermore, the column is mounted on a platform, with the gear ring and the motor being placed under the platform, whereas the entire motion control of the individual screwing devices of the column is above the platform. Practically, this means difficult maintenance of the required high level of environmental hygiene, prescribed during the filling of containers, for example, various types of liquid food.

In this rotary column, the containers are guided solely by their necks, which require the formation of a guiding ring around the very neck of the container to be closed, thus limiting the type of containers onto which caps are screwed.

Summary of the invention

One aim of this invention is to design a compact rotary column for capping containers, which is suitable for operation in environments with high hygiene requirements, allowing for quick cleaning when it is often required to change the formats of the filled containers.

This aim is achieved by means of a rotary column which includes a reducer group, mounted via bearings to the main drive shaft of the column. At the upper end of the main drive shaft, an upper guiding member is located, at and under which, symmetrically with respect to its axis, there are screwing devices. According to the invention concept, there is a main bearing body fastened to the main drive shaft, under the upper guiding member and above the reducer group. Under the main bearing body, there is a cam mounted to the main drive shaft and this cam is centered to an irremovable flange. The flange is attached to a support member. To the upper part of the flange, there is a main bearing mounted, which separates the rotating member of the rotary column from the non-rotating one.

The reducer group with the electric motor, the main gear wheel and the cam are located under the support member.

The screwing devices are centered both to the main bearing body and the upper guiding member, with each screwing device control being carried out by the cam through an upper drive roller mounted at the lower end of the screwing device and housed in a notch made in the cam. To the lower part of each drive shaft of the screwing device, there is also a gear wheel, engaged with the reducer group, wherefrom the torque is imparted through the drive shafts to adjustable torque clutches, to the lower parts of said clutches changeable tips are attached.

In one embodiment of the invention, each drive shaft of a screwing device is positioned coaxially to the axis for pusher. At the lower end of this axis, there is a lower drive roller mounted, which is housed in a notch made in the cam. At its upper end, the pusher is connected to one end of a lever, with the lever being connected to a second pusher at its other end. The upper ends of the second pusher and the first one, together with the toothed belt pulley located on them and the toothed belt, are housed inside a safe-box. At the upper end of the safe-box, there are a fixing axis and an upper guiding member.

In another embodiment, this rotary column can also be used for closing containers by pushing the caps on. In this case, the electric motor is switched off and no torque is imparted to the rotary shafts of the screwing devices, but the whole column is driven by the main gear wheel, and thus it operates so as to close the containers with caps by pushing them on. In this embodiment, the changeable tips are of a kind, which allows for pushing on the caps. An advantage of the invented rotary column for capping containers is that its structure allows it to operate in environments with high hygiene requirements, as its control is entirely located under the support member. The column is fully washable because the elements, which are located above the platform, are hidden and in this way they are also protected against rust.

Another important advantage of the column is that both its own driving and the driving of the screwing devices are done by one motor-reducer group. This helps for the easier maintenance of the rotary column, as well as for its easier control.

Moreover, the structure of the column provides positioning of the containers also by their bottoms, and the structure of the screwing tip makes it possible to screw-cap containers without a ring around their neck.

The invented rotary column for closing containers with screw caps has a compact design and therefore a small portion of the production space is required.

Brief description of the drawings

This invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, where:

- Figure 1 is an axonometric view of the rotary column for capping containers;

- Figure 2 is a longitudinal section view of the rotary column from Fig. 1 ;

- Figure 3 is a view of the screwing device from the rotary column;

- Figure 4 is a longitudinal section view of the screwing device in Fig. 3;

- Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a system for feeding and carrying away the screw-capped containers.

Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment

One of the possible embodiments of the rotary column is for closing containers with screw caps. In this embodiment, the column is composed of a main drive shaft 1 , to the lower part of which there is a firmly fixed, in this particular case by means of bolts, main gear wheel 2, driven by a motor, which is not shown in the accompanying figures - Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. By means of this motor the whole rotary column is driven, too.

To the lower part of the main drive shaft 1 , a reducer group 3 is mounted via bearings. It is driven by an electric motor 4. The reducer group and the motor, together with the gear wheel 2 and the unshown motor, are located under a support member 5.

Irremovably bound to the upper end of the main drive shaft 1, an upper guiding member 6 is mounted, and symmetrically to its axis, there are circularly arranged screwing devices 7, so that when the main drive shaft 1 starts to rotate, all screwing devices 7 are also driven into rotation around its axis.

A main bearing body 8 is fastened to the main drive shaft 1, above the support member 5 and under the upper guiding member 6, by means of screws.

To the main drive shaft 1 , under the main bearing body 8, a cam 9 is mounted and it is centered to an irremovable flange 10. The flange 10 is mounted to the support member 5. To the upper part of the irremovable flange 10, a main bearing 1 1 is mounted and it separates the rotating member of the rotary column from the non-rotating one.

The whole reducer group 3, including also the electric motor 4, as well as the main gear wheel 2 and the cam 9 are arranged under the support member 5, which contributes to the lack of uncovered elements of the rotary column above the support member 5, which elements might require lubrication. As a result of this, the rotary column is compact and it has no cables in its upper part and uncovered driving mechanisms, which makes it easy to wash and fit for work in machines with high hygiene requirements.

The screwing devices 7 are centered both to the main bearing body 8 by means of lower guiding sleeves 13 and to the upper guiding member 6 by upper guiding sleeves 14. This provides for keeping stable and parallel guidance of the drive shafts 12, in particular, and the screwing devices 7, as a whole, with respect to the main drive shaft 1.

The screwing devices 7 execute reciprocating motions in vertical direction by means of an upper drive roller 15 which is mounted in their lower end and located in a notch in the cam 9 - Figure 2 and Fig. 3.

To the drive shafts 12, in their lower part, gear wheels 16 are located and they are engaged with the reducer group 3, so that the torque to drive the screwing devices 7 is imparted from the electric motor 4 through the reducer group 3 and through the gear wheels 16 to the drive shafts 12 - Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. From the drive shafts 12, the torque is imparted to clutches with an adjustable torque 17 to the lower parts of which, there are screwing tips 18 attached, changeable ones in this particular case.

Each drive shaft 12 of a screwing device 7 is positioned coaxially to a pusher 19 and at the lower end of this axis, there is a drive roller 20 - Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, located in the second notch of the cam 9. At its upper end, the pusher 19 is connected to one end of a rod 21 , which is connected at its other end to a second pusher 22, located in the clutch 17. The upper ends of the second pusher 22 for the clutch 17 and of the pusher 19, together with a toothed belt pulley 23, a toothed belt 24 and a second toothed belt pulley 25, are housed in a safe-box 26, at the upper end of which, there are a fixing axis 27 and and upper guiding member 28 that help for the stable guidance of the screwing device 7 in a vertical direction. The toothed belt pulley 23 is irremovably bound to the shaft of the clutch 17, and the second toothed belt pulley 25 is irremovably attached to the drive shaft 12. The fixing axis 27 does not allow the safe-box 26 to rotate around the axis of the drive shaft 12, and the upper guiding member 28 which guides the screwing device 7 steadily in a vertical direction.

For the screwing of the cap 29, a torque is imparted from the reducer group 3 to a gear wheel 16, which in its turn transmits the torque to the second toothed belt pulley 25, and by means of the toothed belt 24, the torque is imparted to the toothed belt pulley 23, which rotates the clutch 17, connected to a screwing tip 18. The torque necessary for screwing the cap 29 is regulated by the clutch 17.

Figures 2 and 5 show that in a particular sector, under the screwing tips 18, there are a cap feeding platform 30 and an inlet device 31 for feeding caps, and under them a bottle platform 32 is located and it is irremovably bound to the main bearing body 8. For positioning the bottles 33, centering carriers 36 are provided, along the periphery of which holders 34 are attached, as well as lateral upper and lower anti-rotation members 35, irremovably attached to and above the support member 5.

For gripping and carrying the bottles 33, the changeable holders 34 are used and they are positioned along the periphery of one or more cylinder holders 36, attached to the main drive shaft 1 of the rotary column. In this particular embodiment, two rows of changeable holders 34 are used and they are positioned parallel above one another and this allows for the carrying and guiding of the bottles 33 to be done simultaneously by their neck, based on a ring under their neck, and also by their bottoms.

This rotary column also allows for other embodiments - for example, gripping and carrying the containers 33 can be done by means of only one row of holders 34, which are to be used for gripping the bottles 33 only by the ring just under the neck of each bottle 33 or only by their bottoms.

In these embodiments, the bottles 33 are fed in a synchronized manner by means of an inlet device 37.

In another embodiment, this rotary column can be used also for capping containers by pushing the caps on. In this case, the electric motor 4 is switched off and no torque is imparted to the rotary shafts 12 of the screwing devices 7, and by the main gear wheel 2 the whole column is driven and so it operates in a regime for closing containers by pushing the caps on. In this embodiment, the changeable tips 18 are of the kind, which allows for the caps 29 to be pushed on - Fig. 4. Use of the invention

At the entrance of the rotary column for capping containers, the inlet device 37 (Fig. 5) feeds in the bottles 33 in a synchronized manner, and they are placed on the platform for bottles 32. Centering the bottles 33 and their concentric positioning under the screwing tips 18 is carried out by means of the centering holders 34 and the lateral upper and lower anti-rotation members 35. Therefore, besides being centered, the bottles 33 are also prevented from rotation after the caps are screwed, when the screwing devices 7 enter the stage of screwing. Each screwing device 7 passes over the outlet device for bottles 38, and simultaneously with that, by means of the inlet device 31 for feeding caps, mounted over the outlet device 38, caps 29 are fed in a synchronized manner and then they are gripped by the screwing tips 18. The control of the screwing tips 18 is carried out by means of the second notch of the cam 9, where the lower drive rollers 20 of the pushers 19 are located.

After screwing the caps to the bottles 33, the latter are gripped by the outlet device 38 of the rotary column and taken out of it.

In case that the caps are not of the screw type, i.e. when they are pushed on the containers, the electric motor 4 is switched off and no torque is imparted to the screwing devices 7.