DESCRIPTION

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to commercial machines for producing beverage containers and, more speci ically, to machines for assembling base cups to the bottom of plastic bottles having rounded bottoms.

Background Prior Art

Bottles and cans have been the primary source of packaging beer and soft drinks for many decades. One type of plastic bottle that has been marketed successfully and has received favorable acceptance is the two- liter plastic bottle that has a closure which can be resealed. This package is used extensively in packaging soft drinks and other beverages. One specific type of bottle that is now available is a blow-molded PET plastic bottle that has a rounded or semi-spherical bottom and a threaded neck which receives a closure. A base cup is secured to the bottom of the bottle to provide stability for- the package during storage, shipment and use.

In line with the acceptance of the plastic bottle with a separate base cup, machinery has been developed for producing such units, and examples of such machinery are disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,132,584 (Aidlin) and 4,300,966 (Hoffman). The earlier patent to Aidlin discloses a transport turret that has a plurality of stations on the periphery thereof, and base cups are supplied from a conveyor while separately-formed plastic bottles are supplied from another conveyor to the stations. Glue is applied to the base cups and the cups and bottles are clamped for a short duration sufficient for the glue to partially _. set and interconnect the elements, after which the units are ejected. The Aidlin machines have the turret driven intermittently

through a drive motor and gear and chain arrangements.

The Hoffman patent discloses a similar machine wherein base cups are fed to a turret which has a plurality of pockets and is indexed at an adhesive-appl ing station and a bottle-insertion station. Pressurized air is used to clamp the bottle and cup until the adhesive sets. Advertising literature and machinery specifications profess speeds of 100 and 80 ppm, respectively, for the machines, but actual use by the Assignee of the present invention has shown that it is difficult to maintain such production speeds for extended periods of time. Furthermore, it was determined that the drive system, requires substantial maintenance and requires considerable down-time regularly.

Thus, there remains a need for a machine of this type that has greater production speeds and less maintenance than existing equipment, and at the same time maintains positive control of the finished product.

Summary of the Invention

According to the present invention, machine has been developed which can maintain positive control of base cups and bottles throughout the assembly cycle. The machinery is designed so that there is a synchronized relation between the base cup and a bottle at all times and the base cup and bottle are

positively gripped at all times to minimize any possible mis-alignment between the two during the assembly cycle.

More specifically, the machine includes a rotatable turret or assembly wheel supported on a base and driven by a drive motor with a cup-infeed mechanism also supported on the base and driven by the same drive motor, along with a bottle feed mechanism. Both the cup and the bottle sources of supply are provided by pneumatic conveyors to the respective stations.

The cup-feeding station consists of a carrier or starwheel which has a plurality of peripheral pockets and is rotated and indexed through indexing gear arrangement driven by the common motor drive for the entire system. A glue-applying station is positioned in radial alignment with the pockets and includes an annular holder or sleeve which is axially reciprocable and continuously rotated to lift and rotate the cup while glue is being applied from a source above the cup.

The annular holder or carrier is freely rotatable on an upper end of a hollow shaft guided for movement on the base. A crank is pivoted on the base and has one end connected to the shaft with a cam follower on the opposite end engaging a cam driven by the common drive motor. The annular holder . is continuously rotated by a separate drive motor.

A transfer wheel is rotated on the base by the common drive and positively transfers the cup with the applied glue from

the carrier to the assembly wheel and positioned under the bottle, which is positively located in the assembly wheel by a pocket and a guide system.

Brief Description of Several Views of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the base cup applicator machine;

FIG. 1A is a schematic illustration of the assembly wheel;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cup infeed mechanism as viewed along line 2- 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the glue-applying station as viewed along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the cup in the raised position and glue being applied;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a part of bottle conveyor system; and,

FIG. 6 is an end view of the bottle conveyor system.

Detailed Description

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the

β broad aspect of the invention to the embodiment illustrated.

FIG. 1 of the drawings shows the machine, generally designated by reference numeral 10, including a base 12 that has a turret 14 rotatable thereon, along with a bottle-f eding station 16, a cup-feeding station 18, and a removal or discharge station 20. Turret or assembly wheel 14 includes an upper support plate 22 which supports a plurality of cylinders 24 around the periphery thereof. Each of the cylinders 24 has a hollow piston rod 26 (FIG. 2) reciprocated therein. Piston rod 26 is spring-biased to a return position and is extended through fluid pressure applied from a source (not shown) through conduits 28 and a rotary valve arrangement 30. Turret or assembly wheel 14 also has a lower flat plate 32 and a pair of intermediate plates 34 and 36 interconnected by posts 37, with plates 34 and 36 having a plurality of recesses 38, which define pockets for the bottle, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Three guide rails 40, two of which are aligned with plates 34 and 36 define an outer guide surface so that the bottle will be positioned in the pockets 38 by friction, as will be described later. The rotating turret consists of upper support plate 22, lower flat plate 32, intermediate plates 34 and 36 and gear 42 and rotates about fixed center shaft 21.

The large drive gear 42, fixed to lower flat plate 32, is driven by a motor 44

through index box 96, drive shaft 102, gear box 46 and small drive gear 48, so that the assembly wheel is continuously and positively rotated when motor 44 is energized. Bottles B are fed from a source along a path defined by a pneumatic conveyor 50 to the bottle-infeed station 16. The pneumatic conveyor 50 consists of a pair of spaced conduits 52 having inwardly-directed openings 53 and connected to a source of pressurized air through a hose 54. Pneumatic conveyor 50 also includes an upper guide plate 56 having an elongated slot 58 which receives the reduced neck portion of the bottle (see FIG. 6) so that the bottle is suspended on plate 56 and is moved along the path by the pressurized air exiting through the openings in the pair of conduits 52. A retractable stop member 60 may be interposed at the end of the path to hold the array of bottles and control the movement into the infeed station 16.

Connected to guide plate 56 and positioned after the open end of guide slot 58, but before retractable stop memnber 60 (see FIG. 5), is alternate bottle feed gate 61, which consists of spring members 63 which are rigidly connected to one end of a slot in guide plate 56 and held by spring force on the other end, such that slight upward force from a bottle will deflect spring member 63 and allow that bottle to be inserted into guide slot 58, thus providing an intermediate and momentary alternate bottle supply port to the primary supply at the open end of guide slot 58.

The bottle infeed station 16 consists of a starwheel 62 that has fingers 64 defining pockets 66 for the respective bottles. A pair of arcuate guide rails 68 extend around a portion of the starwheel 62 and between plates 34, 36. Starwheel 62 is driven through a gear (not shown) in mesh with the large drive gear 42.

Thus, the continuously-rotating starwheel 62 picks up respective bottles B adjacent the outer end of arcuate guide rail 68, whereupon the bottles are under positive control at all times as they are transferred through bottle-feeding station 16 and into the assembly wheel 14. The bottles are gripped in a like manner between pocket 38 and the arcuate guide rail 40.

Base cups are likewise supplied from a source (not shown) through a pneumatic conveyor 70, illustrated in detail in FIG. 2. A pneumatic conveyor 70 consists of a rectangular conduit 72 having a plurality of openings 74 created by deflecting tabs 76 from the body of the metal forming the conduit. Side guide rails 80 and top bars or guide bars 82 (FIG. 1) define a partially-enclosed space for the base cups C and direct them along a path towards the base cup-infeed station 18. A blower 84.is connected to the end of conduit 72 so that pressurized air will lift the cups C above the surface of the conduit 72 and move them along a path, indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, towards the cup-infeed station 18. A retractable stop 86 at the end

of conveyor 70 prevents cups from entering carrier 90 until the appropriate time.

The cup-infeed station 18 includes a generally circular carrier 90 that has a 5 plurality of pockets 92 formed on the periphery thereof. Each of the pockets is configured substantially the same as the periphery of the cups so that the cups are placed in full engagement in the pockets by the pressurized

10 pneumatic fluid in conduit 72.

An arcuate guide bar 94 extends partially around the periphery of the carrier 90, as shown in FIG. 1, so that the cups are under positive control during the

15 indexing of the carrier 90.

The carrier 90 is driven by an indexing gear box 96 to index the pockets at a glue— pplying station 100, which will be described in further detail later. The

2 indexing gear box 96 is driven by motor 44.

A dead plate 104 extends from the end of the conveyor 70 around the periphery of the carrier 90 to the assembly wheel and defines a support surface for the cups C as they are

- ^■ -5 being indexed to various locations around the periphery of the carrier 90. A sensor mechanism 106 may be positioned adjacent the periphery of the carrier 90 to sens-e the presence or absence of a cup in each of the

30 pockets as the associated pocket is aligned with the sensor to assure glue application only when a cup is located in the proper place at the proper time, as will be explained later.

The cup-infeed station also includes a transfer wheel 110 supported on a shaft 112 mounted to the base 12 and transfer wheel 110 consists of a plurality of radially-extending fingers. Shaft 112 is positively driven through a gear (not shown) that is in mesh with the main drive gear 42 so that the continuously- rotating transfer wheel 110 will engage the cups while in the pockets 92 and drive the base cups below a respective bottle B. This movement is again controlled by an arcuate guide rail 116 that extends from the edge of the carrier 90 and into the periphery of the assembly wheel. The details of the glue-applying station 100 are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 and include an annular holder or carrier 120 that is supported on the upper end of a reciprocable shaft 122 with suitable bearings 124 interposed between the carrier and the shaft. The shaft 122 is supported on guide bars 127 and reciprocated vertically through a crank 126 that has a clevis arrangement 128 on one end thereof, which extends on opposite sides of the shaft 122 and receives a slide block 130 fixed to the shaft 122. The opposite end of crank 126 has a cam follower 132 rotatable thereon, which is in continuous engagement with a cam 134 that is fixed to shaft 102 and the output shaft of index box 96. The cam 134 is configured such that the shaft and annular holder 120 are in the raised position, illustrated in FIG. 3, for approximately one-half revolution of shaft 102,

as shown in FIG. 4, and in a lowered position for approximately one-half revolution.

Annular holder or carrier 120 may be continuously rotated through a small drive motor 140 having a gear 142 on its output shaft, which is constantly in mesh with a gear 144 defined on the periphery of annular holder or carrier 120. Annular holder 120 is aligned with an opening 146 in dead plate 104 so that as the carrier is raised, it will engage the lower surface of the cup and raise the cup above the dead plate 104 and simultaneously rotate the cup through motor 140. Preferably, the cup is held onto the carrier through a vacuum source 148 that is in communication with the space adjacent the upper end of the carrier through the shaft 122, which is hollow.

While the carrier is in the raised position and is being rotated to rotate the cup, glue is applied to the interior of the cup from a glue-applying mechanism 150, as shown in FIG. 4. The glue-applying mechanism 150 may, for example, be of the type manufactured by Nordron Corp., Schaumburg, Illinois, as

Model 18, with a Nordron Model H20A gun and a single orifice nozzle controlled by a Nordren Model CT-6 time interval control.

Usually, the base cups C are configured to have an annular raised portion or ridge 152 that defines a support point for positively supporting the container in the holder. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the glue applicator 150 is aligned with the upper

1 _-

surface of this annular ridge 152 so that glue is being applied to the entire surface while the cup is being rotated. Alternately, the drive motor 140 and gear 142 may be disabled and glue applicator 150 aligned with the center of vertical shaft 122. In this configuration, a dot-type glue pattern may be applied.

The operation of the mechanism is believed to be apparent from the above description, but will be briefly summarized at this point. Plastic bottles are fed from a source into the open end of guide slot 58 and are moved along the guide slot 58 by the pressurized air within conduits 52 so that the bottles are moved along a path to the end of the cpnveyor where the movement is interrupted by retractable stop 60. At the same time, cups are delivered from a source (not shown) onto the upper surface of the conduit 72, and the pressurized air lifts the cups off the surface of the conduit and moves them along the path defined by the guide rails 80 and 82 to the end of the conveyor, where movement is interrupted by stop 86. At an appropriate time, and provided both a cup and matching bottle are available, the lead cup is released by retracting the stop 86 t and the cup moves into engagement with the now-stationary pocket 92 on the indexing starwheel 90. The indexing of starwheel 90 will remove the cup from the end of the path defined by the conveyor 70 onto dead plate 104 and subsequent indexes will move it first in front of the sensor mechanism 106 and next to

glue station 100. During this movement, the cups are under positive control, being frictionally gripped betwen pockets 92 and the arcuate guide rail 94. When a cup stops in front of sensor mechanism 106, bottle stop 60 retracts and the bottle moves into engagement with the leading edge of the pocket 66 on the continuously-rotating starwheel 64. The starwheel 64 and guide 68 are configured and positioned such that the bottle is under positive control and is in frictional engagement with the guide rail 68 and the starwheel 64 as it is being driven towards the assembly wheel 14.

The moving bottle B and the respective moving pockets 38 are aligned with each other so that the bottle is completely engaged with the surfaces defining the recesses 38 as it enters the area inside the leading edge of guide bar 40. When the bottle is in full engagement with the arcuate surfaces 38, the bottle is frictionally gripped between the guide bars 40 and the plates 34 and 36, as it is being moved by the assembly wheel 14.

At the glue-applying station 100, the cups are lifted and simultaneously rotated while glue is applied to the ridge 152. Thereafter, the cups are lowered onto the dead plate 104 and indexed towards transfer wheel 110, which picks up the respective cups and moves them along the dead plate 104 onto base plate 32 horizontally aligned with dead plate 104 and in direct alignment below the

bottles in the respective pockets 38, again being under positive control through the guide rail 116. Once the cup is positioned below the bottle B, the hollow piston rod 26 is extended 5 b pressurized air in cylinder 24 and forces the bottle down into the base cup into engagement with the ridge 152 where glue was applied. The assembled bottles and base cup remain under clamping pressure until just prior

10 to the discharge station 20, where pressure is removed from clamping cylinder 24.

The discharge station or removal means 20 again includes a rotatable carrier 170 that has a plurality of pockets 172 on the

15 periphery thereof and is again continuously driven through a gear (not shown) in mesh with main drive gear 42 so that the assembled base cup and bottle a,re positively removed and are guided along guide bar 174 and exit through a 0 shoot arrangement 176.

Thus, it will be seen that the present invention provides a positive control of the cups and the bottles at all times throughout the cycle of assembly and the direct

25 gear engaging drive for all of the mechanisms from a single drive motor allows for acurate synchronized control movement of the cup and the bottle throughout the assembly cycle. Since the bottle and cup are always positively

30 gripped between a stationary guide rail and a movable support member, there is no possibility of misalignment that may result in jamming of parts, which results in destruction of the product. In fact, the positive control has

significantly reduced the normally resulting scrap material in the production of these types of bottles.

It should be noted that the entire system could easily be computer-controlled in conjunction with sensor 106, and it will be appreciated that other types of controllers could also be used.

Since most of the components are rather standard components of the drive system, very little maintenance is required for the entire system.