Abstract:
A breaking-line cutting machine for the twist-off bottle cap includes a main mechanism having an input tray, an output tray, a cutting set and a plurality of rotary components to pick up the unfinished bottle caps from the input tray to the cutting set for cutting the dashed breaking-line at there and delivering the finished bottle caps to the output tray, a semi-finished product feeding system to feed the unfinished bottle caps into the input tray and finished product container receives the finished bottle caps from the output tray via a conveyer. It is characterized in the introrsely curved inner edge of the cutting set by which the contact area between cutting set and the bottle cap is enlarged in order to make a precise and neat dashed breaking-line in the cap.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to cutting machines and more particularly to a breaking-line cutting machine for the twist-off bottle cap. 
     Nowadays, the manufacturers of milk or other beverages mostly adopt a twist-off cap  1  (as shown in FIG. 9) which has a dashed breaking-line  2  around a periphery. 
     When an user twists the cap counterclockwise, the dashed breaking-line is broken off and the bottle is opened. The dashed breaking-line is made with a breaking-line cutting machine. 
     Due to the out curved blade, the contact area between the blade and cap is rather small that is unfavorable for the quality control. Besides, the cutting speed is rather slow and sometimes the caps enter at the wrong side. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention has a main object to provide a breaking-line cutting machine for the twist-off bottle cap which machine is fully automatic and adopts transverse cutting method so as to provide a high cutting speed favorable for mass production and low breakdown rate. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a breaking-line cutting machine for the twist-off bottle cap in which the blade of a cutting set is introrsely curved that provides a swiftly, precisely and safely cutting of the twist-off caps and insures a good quality. When opens the door of a transparent guard, the machine will be totally stopped in order to safeguard the safety of the operator. 
     Accordingly, the breaking-line cutting machine for the twist-off bottle cap comprises generally an input system, an output system and a main mechanism which is comprised of a stand in which a motor is disposed, a central shaft projected upward from the top of the stand, a plurality of rotary disks spacedly secured on the shaft, a plurality of tubular posts spacedly and vertically connected between the rotary disks, a plurality of rotary posts slidably inserted into the tubular posts and a cutting set disposed on one side of a stationary disk. 
     The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the preferred embodiment of the breaking-line cutting machine of the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing that the caps on the input guide are selected by a rotor and a blow-pipe, 
     FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 4 is a plane view showing that an input tray is operated in cooperation with the input guide and the main mechanism to push the caps into the main mechanism of the machine, 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing that the input tray is operated in cooperation with a rotary post of the main mechanism, 
     FIG. 6 is a plane view showing the operation of the main mechanism of the machine, 
     FIG. 7 is a side view showing an annular groove including an inverse U-shaped guide track in the outer periphery of the central shaft, 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the cutting set is cutting a dashed breaking-line in the twist-off cap, and 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a finished product of the twist-off cap. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to FIGS. 1,  2  and  3 , of the drawings, the breaking-line cutting machine of the twist-off bottle cap of the present invention comprises generally a semi-finished product feeder  10 , an input guide  20 , a main mechanism  30 , a conveyer  40  and a finished product container  50 . 
     The semi-finished product feeder  10  contains a lot of unfinished twist-off caps  60  and feeds the caps  60  one by one into the input guide  20  and has a feed-back pipe  11  which connects to an upper periphery of the feeder  10  and has an opening  12  in the free end positioned under the input guide  20  for receiving the upset caps retaining back to the feeder  10 . The seeding mechanism inside the feeder  10  is of a conventional art and is therefore not redundantly described. 
     The input guide  20  is disposed between the feeder  10  and the main mechanism  30  and has a pair of first and second V-shaped through holes  21  and  22  spacedly formed above the opening  12  of the feed-back pipe  11 , a blow-pipe  23  above the first V-shaped through hole  21  and toward downward to provide predetermined air pressure to press the upset caps  60  into the opening  12  through the V-shaped through hole  21 , a rotor rotatably disposed above the second V-shaped through hole  22  and having six radial arms of predetermined length for pressing the upset caps  60  (the opening of the cap  60  is toward downward) into the opening  12  of the feed-back pipe  11  and pushing the qualified caps  60  to move forward, a plurality of roughly U-shaped air vents  25  spacedly and centrally formed in the bottom of the input guide  20  (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) for driving the caps  60  to move forward to the main mechanism  30  an air transmission pipe  26  under the input guide  20  to supply the air to the air vents  25  and a sensor  27  on a top of the input guide  20  to measure the moving speed and to count the number of the caps that passed through. 
     The main mechanism  30  comprises a box like rectangular stand  31  on bottom in which is a motor vertically disposed (not shown), a transparent rectangular guard  32  on the top having four doors  321  and each of the doors engages with a sensitive switch  322  which is functioned to temporarily stop the operation of the machine when the door  321  is open in order to prevent the hazard from to be happened, a stationary disk  39  centrally disposed on the top of the stand  31  having a central bore communicated to the stand  31 , an input tray  34  integrated with a circumference of the stationary disk  39  having a pair of lateral walls  341 , an inlet  342  connected to the inner end of the input guide  20 , an outlet toward the main mechanism  30 , a double-headed pusher  343  having two symmetrically formed introrsely curved edges and a circular pivot  344  on the center of the double-headed pusher  343  connected to a mini-motor (not shown) on the bottom of the tray  34  to drive the pusher  343  to rotate at predetermined speed (as shown in FIG.  5 ), to regularly push the caps  60  from the inlet  342  to the outlet on one by one basis, an output tray  35  integrated with a circumference of the stationary disk  39  positioned perpendicular to the input tray  34  and having a pair of lateral walls  351  to define an inlet toward the main mechanism and an outlet  352  connected to one end of the conveyer  40  which conveys the finished caps  60  into the finished-product container  50 , a double-headed pusher  353  which has the same shape as that of the double-headed pusher  343  of the input tray  34  and is also secured by a pivot  354  and drived by a mini-motor (not shown) on the bottom of the tray  35  (as shown in FIGS.  1  and  4 ), to push the finished caps  60  from the inlet to the outlet  352 , a cutting set  301  integrated with a circumference of the stationary disk  39  positioned opposite to the output tray  35  and having a cutting plate  304  sandwiched in an upper plate  302  and a lower plate  303  and adjustably secured by bolts  305 , both of the plates  302 ,  303  and  304  having an introrsely curved inner edge wherein the cutting plate  304  has a spaced blade  3041  slightly protruded outward relative to the plates  302  and  303  and four through holes (not shown) for passing through the bolts  305  larger than that of the plates  302  and  303  to facilitate a minute adjustment of the cutting plate  304  and a tail  3042  projected outward from outer edge thereof and the lower plate  303  has a spline  3031  vertically formed on upper edge abutting the spaced blade  3041 , a pulling rod  306  having flat fore end connected with the tail  3042  and secured by a bolt  307  and threaded rear end engaged with a minute adjustment button  308  which is held by a pair of rectangular plates  309  (as shown in FIG.  8 ), the lower plate  303  further having a heater in the bottom (not shown) for heating the cutting plate  304  to a predetermined degree of temperature in order to smoothly cut the caps  60 , a tubular central shaft  33  stationary projected upward from a central bore of the stationary disk  39 . On an outer periphery of the shaft  33  is an horizontal annular groove  331  having an inverse U-shaped section  332  that begins from the spot in front of the output tray  35  (as shown in FIG. 7) and is ended at a spot in front of the input tray  34  and a spindle  36  rotatably disposed in the central shaft  33  having a lower end connected to the motor (not shown) and an upper end perpendicularly secured to the underside of an upper rotary disk  36 , a middle rotary disk  37  which has a plurality of through holes spacedly formed adjacent circumference and a lower rotary disk  38  spacedly and rotatably secured to the outer periphery thereof with a bearing engaged therebetween, wherein the lower rotary disk  38  is smaller than the middle rotary disk  37  and has plurality of slots  382  spacedly formed in the circumference made in registry with the through holes of the middle rotary disk, a plurality of stationary tubular posts  371  spacedly connected between the upper rotary disk  36  and the middle rotary disk  37  abutting their outer circumferences each having an oblong through hole (not shown) vertically formed in inner periphery, a plurality of solid posts spacedly and vertically connected to the middle rotary disk  37  and the lower rotary disk  38  therebetween and positioned alternate with the stationary tubular posts  371  so that both the middle rotary disk  37  and the lower rotary disk  38  can be able to rotate in connect with the upper rotary disk  36  and a plurality of cylindrical rotary posts  372  rotatably and slidably engaged into the stationary tubular posts  371  respectively each of which is driven by a gear train inside the stationary tubular posts  371  (not shown) and has a transverse rod  3721  pivoted to the top thereof through the oblong hole, a bearing  3722  rotatably secured to the free end of the rod  3721  and slidably engaged in the annular groove  331  and the inverse U-shaped section  332 , an annular ring  3723  on a lower outer periphery and a lower end engaged within the slot  382  of the lower rotary disk  38 . So that the cylindrical rotary posts  372  is rotated clockwise themselves and revolved in concert with the stationary tubular posts  371  and ascendant and then descendent when the transverse rods  3721  slide in the inverse U-shaped section  332  (as shown in FIG.  7 ). 
     The finished product container  50  connects to the outlet  352  of the output tray  35  via the conveyer  40  to received the finished twist-off bottle caps  60  therein. 
     Based on the above discussed structure, in operation, the feeder  10  feeds the semi-finished caps  60  one by one into the input guide  20 , if a cap  60  is found upset (the opening of the cap toward downward), the blow-pipe  23  provides the downward air pressure to drop down the cap  60  through the first or second V-shaped through holes  21  and  22  into the opening  12  of the feed-back pipe  11  retaining to the feeder  10  for next chance of feeding, if the cap  60  is qualified (the opening of the cap toward upward), it will be smoothly passed the V-shaped through holes  21  and  22  and pushed by the arms of the rotor  24  to move forward, while the air vents blow the caps to move continuously into the input tray  34  of the main mechanism  30  through the sensor  27  which measures the moving speed and counts the number of the passed caps  60 , the double-headed pusher  343  of the input tray  34  pushes the caps  60  one by one from the inlet  342  to the outlet of the tray  34 , while a descendent rotary post  372  just reaches to the cap  60  and wraps the cap  60  to its tower end and brings the cap  60  to the cutting set  301  for cutting the dashed breaking-line, due to the introrsely curved inner edge of the cutting plate  304 , the vertical stripes of the caps  60  meshed with the spline  3031  on the lower plate  303  and clockwise rotation of the rotary post  372 , the cutting result of the dashed breaking-line must be more smooth and qualified, when the rotary post  372  reaches to the output tray  35  and ascents, immediately the cap  60  will be dropped down to the inlet of the output tray  35  due to the stopping by the edge of the slot  382  of the lower rotary disk  38 , the double-headed pusher  353  of the output tray  35  then pushes the finished cap  60  out of the outlet  352  and the finished cap  60  conveyed by the conveyer  40  enters into the finished products container  50 . The rapid and continuous operation of the machine will produce a large number of qualified twist-off caps  60 . According to a practical test, this machine can provide about 500 pieces of qualified twist-off caps  60  per a minute. The introrsely curved inner edge of the cutting set  301 , to enlarge the contact area between the cap  60  and cutting plate  304  which is heated to a predetermined degree of temperature, in addition to the minute adjustment device to decide the cutting depth of the dashed breaking-line in the caps  60 , the result must be very precise and reliable and the machine is capable of mass production. 
     The transparent guard  32  enables the operator to watch the operation of the main mechanism and prevents the external objects to intrude into the mechanism. 
     Its four doors  321  in cooperation with the four sensitive switchs  322  which stop the operation of the whole machine safeguard the safety of the operator. This machine is already worked out and tested repeatedly to prove that the capability is very reliable. 
     Note that the specification relating to the above embodiment should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.