CAPPING APPARATUS

• US 3,771,284 A
• Filed: 09/20/1971
• Issued: 11/13/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hugo Boeckmann, William F. Hammernik
• Original Assignee: Hugo Boeckmann, William F. Hammernik
• Inventors: Boeckmann, Hugo, Hammernik, William F.
• Primary Examiner(s): McGehee, Travis S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Culver, Horace M.
• Application Number:
  US05/181,827
• Time in Patent Office: 785 Days
• Field of Search: 53/317,331.5,314,315,357,360-362,281,351,353,367,282
• US Class Current: 53/282
• CPC Class Codes: B67B 3/2033 comprising carousel co-rotating capping heads
• CPC Class Codes: B67B 3/2073 comprising torque limiting means torque limiters in wrenches or screwdrivers B25B23/14; couplings or clutches per se F16D

Abstract

A capping apparatus including a cap attachment assembly and a cap tightening turret to be used in conjunction with a container filling turret having a conveying apparatus for transferring the filled containers to the capping turret. The cap attachment assembly includes a housing for supporting a cap in the path of motion of the neck of the container and a pretightener assembly positioned to level the cap on the neck of the container as the cap is pulled from the housing and to impart an initial rotary motion to the cap prior to entering the cap tightening assembly. The cap tightening turret includes a number of spindles having continuously rotating heads and a corresponding number of pedestals for moving the necks of the containers into the rotating heads. Each of the heads includes a resilient ring to frictionally engage the outer periphery of the cap to rotate the cap into tight engagement with the neck of the container.

Claims

1. The combination with a container filling turret mounted for rotary motion on a base, of a cap leveling and pretightening assembly and a cap tightening turret, the container being moved in sequence from the container filling turret past the cap leveling and pretightening assembly to the cap tightening turret, said cap leveling and pretightening assembly comprising, a housing supported in a fixed position on the base in the path of motion of the containers, said housing having a groove positioned in a transverse relation to the direction of motion of the containers, said groove terminating in a reduced cross section width to retain the major portion in the groove and allow a minor portion of the cap to be exposed below the housing, a chute attached to said housing for feeding caps in sequence to said groove, means mounted on the front of said housing for holding the caps in a substantially vertical relation on the reduced width cross section, whereby the cap will be pulled from the housing by the movement of the neck of the container into engagement with the exposed section of the cap, said cap tightening turret including a housing having a number of cap-tightening spindles, each spindle including a head and a resilient ring having a tapered recess for engaging and tightening said cap on the container, and means for supporting the container for movement into the recess in said resilient rings.

2. The combination according to claim 1 including means on said assembly for pretightening said cap on the neck of the container prior to transfer to the cap tightening turret.

3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said pretightening means includes an arcuate plate having a resilient cushion positioned to frictionally engage the skirt of said cap.

4. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said assembly includes a leveling plate supported in a position to engage and level said cap.

5. The combination according to claim 1 including means for providing a lost motion connection between said ring and said head.

6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said lost motion means includes a drive disc mounted to rotate with said head, a torque disc in said head and a spring operably biasing said drive disc into engagement with said torque disc, said resilient ring being seated in said torque disc.

7. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said resilient ring includes a plurality of ribs on its outer periphery in a position to engage said head when a cap is seated in the recess in said ring.

8. The combination according to claim 1 including means mounted in said head for leveling the caps prior to being seated in the tapered recess of said resilient ring.

9. The combination according to claim 1 including means for providing an overtravel movement for said ring. 10. A capping apparatus for securing a screw type cap to the neck of a continuously moving container, said apparatus comprising a cap attachment assembly for placing a cap on the neck of the container, said assembly including means for supporting said caps in a vertical transverse relation to the direction of motion of said container and means for leveling the caps on the container, and a cap tightening turret for tightening the cap on the container, said turret including a number of cap tightening spindles and a corresponding number of container supporting pedestals for moving the containers upwardly to a cap tightening position with respect to said spindles, each of said spindles including a continuously rotating head, a resilient ring having a tapered recess and being mounted for movement in said head in response to movement of said cap into said tapered recess, and means for applying pressure to the outer periphery of said ring as said cap is seated in said tapered recess.

11. The apparatus according to cliam 10 including means within said head for providing lost motion between said resilient ring and said head.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 including means in said spindle head for leveling the caps prior to being seated in the tapered recess of said resilient ring.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10 including means for providing an overtravel motion between said resilient ring and said head.

14. The apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said leveling means includes means for pretightening the cap on the neck of the container.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14 wherein said pretightening means includes a resilient cushion positioned to engage the cap and impart a rotary movement thereto.

16. The combination with a container filling turret mounted for rotary motion on a base of a cap leveling and pretightening assembly and a cap tightening turret, the container being moved in sequence from the container filling turret to the cap tightening turret, said cap tightening turret comprising, a housing mounted for rotary motion on the base, a number of spindles mounted on the outer periphery of said housing, each spindle including a shaft mounted for rotary motion in said spindle and having a drive plate at one end, a hollow cylindrical member having a reduced diameter opening at one end secured to said plate, a drive disc mounted in said housing, means for connecting said drive disc to said plate, a torque disc having a tapered recess retained in said housing by said reduced diameter opening, a spring biasing said torque disc into engagement with said drive disc, a flexible ring having a cap tightening recess therein mounted in said tapered recess in said torque disc, a pedestal corresponding to each of said spindles for supporting the containers, means for moving said pedestal upward to seat the cap on the container in the recess in the compressible ring, and a container stop assembly mounted on each of said spindles and including a number of flexible fingers positioned to engage said container.

17. The combination according to claim 16 wherein said drive disc connecting means comprises a pair of pins on said plate and a corresponding pair of openings in said drive disc, said openings being extended to provide for overtravel movement between said drive disc and said plate.

18. The combination according to claim 16 including means for adjusting the force of said spring.