Not Applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to container filling, and more particularly to an apparatus for queuing both self-standing and unstable containers.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

Various medical diagnostic kits and other assemblies include both free-standing and unstable containers, such containers being filled with a medical diagnostic fluid, or the like. Filling such containers with the proper fluid is known in the prior art, but interchanging machines to fill free-standing containers versus unstable containers or vials is time consuming. Such operations require use of dedicated machines for both the freestanding and for the unstable containers, or complex machines with separate queuing systems using different motion devices for the free-standing and unstable containers. Some prior art solutions require a step of placing the unstable containers in a stabilizing holder before filling and closing operations, and subsequently require removal of the holders thereafter. Having such duplicate equipment for handling the different types of container is expensive.

Therefore, there is a need for a device that can utilize much of the same equipment to queue both unstable and free-standing containers, without requiring a complicated interchange of machinery that is dedicated to one type of container or the other. The present invention accomplishes these and other objectives, including having a compact footprint that conserves clean room floor space, which is expensive to both build and operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present device is an apparatus for conveying either unstable or free-standing containers to a queue to be received by a container filling machine, or the like. The present device is easy to use, reconfigure, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Further, such a device is adaptable to various types of filling machines or other types of container-handling mechanisms, and such a device is reliable in its ability to consistently convey either free-standing or unstable containers to a queue for further processing. The present invention further is useful with many types of the most widely used unstable containers, as well as a variety of free-standing containers. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram, partially cut-away, of the invention, illustrating a first and second conveyor mechanisms for conveying unstable containers in a prone orientation to a queue of such containers in an upright orientation;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the invention, further illustrating a height adjustment mechanism of the first conveyor mechanism as adapted for use with the unstable containers;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the invention, illustrating a configuration thereof adapted for conveying free-standing containers to the queue of such containers;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the invention, further illustrating the height

adjustment mechanism of the first conveyor mechanism as adapted for use with the free-standing containers;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational diagram of an adjustable inclination angle Θ of the first conveyor mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a an exploded diagram of a second adapter track of the second conveyor

mechanism and one of the unstable containers;

FIG. 7 is a partial, alternate perspective view of the embodiment of the invention of FIG. i; FIG. 8 is a partial, alternate perspective view of the embodiment of the invention of FIG. 7, illustrating in more detail a filling machine, or the like, that receives the containers from the queue of the second conveyor mechanism;

FIG. 9 is a perspective cut-away view of an embodiment wherein the first conveyor mechanism is a rotating conveyor; and

FIG. 10 is a top plan diagram of the embodiment of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. The following explanation provides specific details for a thorough understanding of and enabling description for these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand that the invention may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid

unnecessarily obscuring the description of the embodiments.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words "comprise," "comprising," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to." Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words "herein," "above," "below" and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word "or" in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.

FIGS. 1—4 illustrate an apparatus 10 for queuing either unstable containers 25 of the type having a radially-projecting neck 26, or free-standing containers 20. Exemplary such unstable containers 25 are of the type produced by Sarstedt AG & Co. of Numbrecht, Germany, for example, sold under at least the model numbers starting with the following five digit codes: 72.607, 72.608, 72.687, 72.692, 72.693, 72.694, 72.703, 72.730, 72.733, and 72.785, and interchangeable designs from other manufactures such as Thermo Fischer, etc.. Such unstable containers 25 are unable to support themselves in an upright orientation 28 while being moved, but do have a radially-projecting neck 26 that can be used to support such containers 25.

The apparatus 10 includes a first conveyor mechanism 30 that has a top surface 35 adapted for receiving the free-standing containers 20 in an upright orientation 28 (FIGS. 3—4), and the unstable containers 25 in a prone orientation 21 (FIGS. 1, 2, 7—10). The first conveyor mechanism 30 is adapted to deliver the containers 20,25 to a distal end 38 thereof, and includes a height adjustment mechanism 200 for selectively adjusting the height of the distal end 38 of the first conveyor mechanism 30. In one embodiment of the invention, the first conveyor mechanism 30 includes at least a pair of rollers 80 and a web 90 movable between a proximal end 32 thereof and the distal end 38 thereof. At least one of the rollers 80 drives the web 90 and is coupled with a first moving means 70, such as an electric motor or the like. The web 90 is adapted to receive the containers 20,25 proximate the proximal end 32 and convey the containers 20,25 to the distal end 38 of the first conveyor mechanism 30. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the first conveyor mechanism 30 is a rotating conveyor 39 (FIGS. 9 and 10) adapted to convey either the unstable containers 25 or the free-standing containers 20 (not shown). In yet another embodiment of the invention, the first conveyor mechanism 30 is a vibrating conveyor mechanism (not shown).

A second conveyor mechanism 40 has a vibrating surface 41 that is adapted for selectively fixing with one of either a first adapter track 44 or a second adapter track 47. Such a second conveyor mechanism 40 is of the type that includes an oscillating or reciprocating mechanism 1 10 for steadily advancing the containers 20,25 towards a distal end 46 thereof.

The first adapter track 44 has a top surface 45 adapted to receive the free-standing containers 20 from the distal end 38 of the first conveyor mechanism 30 and convey the containers to a queue 60 of the containers 20 proximate the distal end 46 of the first adapter track 44. The second adapter track 47 has a top surface 48 that includes a central channel 50 therein adapted for receiving the unstable containers 25 therein with the neck 26 of the unstable containers 25 resting on the top surface 48 thereof. The width W of the channel 50 is greater than the largest diameter Dl of the unstable containers 25 (FIG. 6), but less than the diameter D2 of the container neck 26. The height of the channel 50 is also greater than the height of the each unstable container 25 between its neck 26 and a bottom thereof (not shown). The second adapter track 47 further allows rotation of the unstable containers 25 into the upright orientation 28 where the channel 50 and the top surface 48 cooperate to support each container 25 in the upright orientation 28 and convey each container 25 to the queue 60 of such containers 25 proximate a distal end 49 of the second adapter track 47 (FIGS. 1 and 7).

The height adjustment mechanism 200 of the first conveyor mechanism 30 includes a first support frame 190 adapted to provide selective positioning of the proximal end 32 vertically such that an angle Θ of the top surface 35 of the first conveyor mechanism 30 relative to the angle of the top surface 45,48 of the first or second adapter track 44,47, respectively, is adjustable between plus twenty or minus ten degrees (FIG. 5). Further, the height adjustment mechanism 200 of the first conveyor mechanism 30 is adapted such that the height h of the top surface 35 of the first conveyor mechanism 30 may be selectively set substantially to the height of the top surface 45,48 of either the first or second track adapter 44,47, respectively (FIGS. 2,4). Further, the first conveyor mechanism 30, in one embodiment, introduces the containers 20,25 onto the second conveyor mechanism 40 substantially orthogonally, in plan view. In an alternate embodiment, the first conveyor mechanism 30 introduces the containers 20,25 onto the second conveyor mechanism 40 at an angle β of between 45 degrees and 180 degrees, in plan view (FIG. 7).

A queue sensor 170 may be fixed proximate the second conveyor mechanism 40 and coupled with a logic circuit 180 that is adapted to control the first moving means 70. As such, when the queue 60 of containers 20,25 is below a predetermined number or length of containers for a predetermined period of time, for example, the logic circuit 180 activates the first conveyor mechanism 30 to deliver additional containers 20,25 to the second conveyor mechanism 40 for a predetermined replenishment period of time, such as four or five seconds, for example. Such a queue sensor 170 may be a photovoltaic sensor, a camera, a motion sensor, or the like. The logic circuit 180 is connected to a source of power (not shown) that can be switched to the first moving means 70 as needed or dictated by the logic circuit 180 and the queue sensor 170.

While a particular form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which includes providing a means whereby unstable containers 25 in the prone orientation 21 or free-standing containers 20 in the upright orientation 28 may be fed via a first conveyor mechanism 30 into a second conveyor mechanism 40, the appropriate adapter track 44,47 either maintaining the orientation of the free-standing containers 20 or rotating the unstable containers 25 from the prone orientation 21 to the upright orientation 28. For example, the second adapter track 47 may be designed with the top surface 48 including the central channel 50 as described herein, and the first adapter track 44 designed with the top surface 45, but wherein the conveying motion of the first and/or second conveying mechanism 30,40 being a pushing, pulling, gripping, motorized feeding scroll, or motorized belt type device (some not shown). Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention.

The above detailed description of the embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above or to the particular field of usage mentioned in this disclosure. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Also, the teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.

All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention.

Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above "Detailed Description." While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Therefore, implementation details may vary considerably while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated.

In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under the claims.

While certain aspects of the invention are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventor contemplates the various aspects of the invention in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the invention.