Abstract:
A crystallization machine for a mouth on a bottle blank provides different heat sources to heat up the mouth of the bottle blank. The crystallization machine also provides an automatically controlled system to precisely control the dimension of the crystallized mouth of the bottle blank. Hence, the crystallization machine can be performed to increase the productivity, save energy, reduce the production cost, and enhance the competitiveness for the maker.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, and, particularly, to a crystallization machine, which can enhance the production efficiency and the quality while the plastic bottle blank is treated for crystallizing the mouth thereof.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    Now, applying a single infrared radiation to perform the heating job in the crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle has been adopted conventionally in the whole world. The heat energy from the heat source of infrared radiation is sent to the outer surface of the mouth on a plastic bottle blank directly, and the mouth is crystallized during the process of heating. The crystallization conducted by the conventional crystallization machine gets involved in the following shortcomings:  
           [0005]    (1) The mouth is easily deformed to change the configuration thereof resulting from absorbing the radiation unevenly due to the threaded area of the mouth being made with irregular screw threads and a non-homogeneous thickness.  
           [0006]    (2) In order to avoid the phenomenon of being deformed during stripping, the mouth of the plastic bottle blank usually is cooled excessively, but the over cooled mouth makes the stripping job more difficult to perform.  
           [0007]    (3) The temperature at the inner side of the mouth is not possible to be controlled properly so that it makes the above two problems worse.  
           [0008]    (4) In order to keep a good shape and a precise dimension for the mouth and perform a smooth stripping job, it is not possible for the conventional crystallization machine to increase the speed of the production in a very limited processing window.  
           [0009]    (5) The cycling conveyer mechanism for delivering the plastic bottle in the conventional crystallization machine usually is designed to move around horizontally such that it provides a very large size but a small capability so that the beneficial result of economics thereof is unfavorable.  
           [0010]    Accordingly, the subject with regard to the deficiencies of the conventional crystallization machine is worth us to overcome although it may provide the basic function thereof and has its economic value.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0011]    The present invention adopts two sets of radiation heat sources in conjunction with an operation of an integrated machine system to increase the production in addition to the accurate size thereof being needed to maintain so as to solve the problems confronted by the conventional crystallization machine such as a difficultly operated production system and a low efficiency of production.  
           [0012]    An object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, in which a shift device and a loader device are arranged to move synchronously such that the plastic bottle blank can fit with the loader device reliably and move correctly during being fed into the machine.  
           [0013]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, in which a stripping tool will not contact an opening end of the mouth on the plastic bottle blank and the threaded area thereof to keep an accurate dimension of the mouth without being deformed.  
           [0014]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, in which a closed feed back system with a pyrometer are arranged therein to control the temperature at the inner side of the plastic bottle blank in a range of 70° C.˜200° C. for maintaining an unchanged dimension of the bottle blank during stripping.  
           [0015]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, in which a dual conveying system with a vertically moving cycle is adopted such that the crystallization machine can occupy a less space to treat multiple times of plastic bottle blanks with a least production cost.  
           [0016]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, which can increase the production efficiency in addition to an accurate crystallized size being obtained.  
           [0017]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank, which can increase the effectiveness of a heater zone therein to decrease a waste of energy in the heater therein. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank according to the present invention illustrating a front half part thereof;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank according to the present invention illustrating a rear half part thereof;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3A is a diagrammatic view of input zone in the crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a shift device in the input zone of the crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3C is a diagrammatic view of a loader on a conveyer contacting with a transmission gear disk in the shift device according to the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3D is a perspective view illustrating a plastic bottle blank fitting with the loader in the shift device;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is a plan view of locating wheels at the upper portion of the crystallization machine of the present invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a heater zone at the upper portion of the crystallization machine of the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the heater zone shown in FIG. 5;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7A is a diagrammatic view of a releasing zone in the crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank according the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 7B is a side view of FIG. 7A;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 8 is a plan view of a stripping plate attached to the loader device illustrating the stripping plate in a state of performing to detaching the plastic bottle blank; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating two temperature sensors attached to the crystallization machine for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0032]    Referring to FIGS.  1 , and  2 , a crystallization machine  10  for a mouth on a plastic bottle blank according to the present invention provides a motor  11  to drive a front conveyer gear disk  12  and the conveyor gear disk  12  actuates a conveyor (not shown) to move above and below a heater zone  16 . The crystallization machine  10  at the front end thereof is fixedly disposed a respective feed element  13  near both lateral sides thereof. The respective feed element  13  extends inward in a tilt way to connect with a shift device  14 . The shift device  14  is fixedly located under the conveyer and a positioning slide rail  15  is mounted between the front gear disk  12  and the shift device  14 . The shift device  14  keeps bottle blanks  23  in a state of being upright during the process of crystallizing. The crystallization machine  10  at the rear portion thereof is a cooling zone  17  and a blowing device (not shown) with a blowing pipe  18  is provided at the back of the cooling zone  17 . The outlet of the blowing pipe  18  is under a rear conveyor gear disk  12 ′ disposed at the cooling zone and opposite to the front conveyor gear disk  12 . A releasing track  19  is disposed in front of the rear conveyer gear disk  12 ′ next to the blowing pipe  18 . An output track  21  is disposed under the releasing track  19  and the outlet of the blowing pipe  18  faces the output track  21 , that is, the wind from the blowing device blows toward the output track  21  so as to constitute a back cooling zone  20 . The bottle blanks  23  are delivered to a collect zone  22  after being crystallized and cooled. This is a brief introduction of the crystallization machine and an operation for crystallizing the bottle blanks  23 .  
         [0033]    Referring to FIG. 3A, a process of feeding the bottle blanks  23  is illustrated. As soon as the crystallization machine  10  starts to run, the respective bottle blank  23  is fed into a rotary disk  24  on the shift device  14  from the feed element  13  and the rotary disk  24  at the circumference thereof provides a shape like gear teeth such that the respective bottle blank  23  can be inserted into a gap between two neighboring teeth thereof. A protect barrier  25  is mounted to surround the rotary disk  24  for preventing the respective bottle blank  23  from falling down while the rotary disk  24  is in a state of turning. The respective plastic bottle blank  23  rotates synchronously with the rotary disk  24  and transfers to the positioning slide rail  15  as soon as the respective bottle blank  23  is turned to a connection end of the positioning slide rail  15 . The rotation of the rotary disk  24  causes the plastic bottle blank  23  to move along a guide surface  26  on the positioning slide rail  15  in an ascendant way gradually.  
         [0034]    Referring to FIG. 3B with accompanying FIG. 3A again, a detail of the shift device  14  is illustrated. A plurality of loaders  32  are provided on the conveyer to drive the shift device  14 . The rotary disk  24  of the shift device  14  at the central portion thereof extends upward a central shaft  240 . Each of the loaders  32  is preferably made of engineering plastics to avoid being worn out so as to maintain the accuracy thereof. The central shaft  240  at the upper end thereof is fixedly attached a transmission gear  241  to mesh with the middle part of the loader  32  by way of a teeth part  242  thereof. As soon as the conveyer moves, the loader  32  can actuate the transmission gear  241  to rotate and cause the rotary disk  24  to rotate via the central shaft  240 . As it has been mentioned previously, the periphery of the rotary disk  24  has a gear like shape so that there are receiving recesses  243  provided for receiving the bottle blanks respectively. Hence, the bottle blanks  23  received in the respective recess  243  are inserted by the support post  322  of one of the loaders  32  respectively such that the bottle blanks  23  are moved by the loaders  32  respectively as soon as the conveyer moves along with the loaders  32 . In the mean time, the respective loader  32  carrying the respective bottle blank  23  can be sleeved into the respective bottle blank  23  while the bottle blanks  23  inter the positioning rail  15  and ascend along the guide surface  26 . This is a design that each bottle blank  23  to be treated in the crystallizing machine  10  is corresponding to one of the loaders  32  on the conveyor and the conveyer and the shift mechanism  14  can be performed by a set of driving system instead of two sets of different driving systems. Therefore, the bottle blanks  23  can move with the loaders  32  synchronously to overcome the puzzle resulting from the need of adjusting the movement of the respective bottle blank  23  in accordance with the respective loader  32 .  
         [0035]    Referring to FIG. 3C, the loader  32  provides a fitting section  321  for fitting with the mouth of a bottle blank and a contact part  32  next to and above the fitting section  321  for contacting with the transmission gear disk  241  instead of the fitting section  321  being contacted by the transmission gear disk  241 . In this way, it is possible for the fitting section  321  to avoid the outer diameter thereof being worn out and to fit with the inner diameter of the mouth on the bottle blank well afterward so that even if the transmission gear disk  241  is made of metal instead of the engineering plastics, it is not necessary to worry about the problem of the fitting section being worn out.  
         [0036]    Referring to FIG. 3D, a fixing base  247  is disposed between two rotary disks  24 , which are corresponding to the two parallel conveyers respectively and it is noted that one rotary disk is shown in FIG. 3 only, and the fixing base  247  at the upper end thereof is fixedly attached with two rollers  248  opposite to each other and corresponding to the two rotary disks  24  respectively. Each rotary disk  24  is slidably attached with a plurality wedge blocks  244  and each wedge block  244  at the top thereof is urged by a spring  246  and the bottom thereof is a tilt plane  245 . When the respective rotary disk  24  at both lateral sides of the fixing base  247  rotate, each wedge block  244  thereon rotates synchronously and the tilt plane  245  touches the respective roller  248  so that the wedge block  244  can move upward at the same time to push the bottle blank  23  moving upward. In this way, the threaded part of the bottle blank  23  may higher than the guide rail  15  to allow the mouth of the bottle blank  23  piercing the support post  322  so that the bottle blank  23  can be moved outward to enter the positioning slide rail  15  with the support post  233 . Thus, the bottle blank  23  can move along the positioning slide rail  15  such that the bottle blank  23  can move upward gradually to enter the heater zone for being heated up and the mouth thereof can fit with the loader  32  completely at the same time.  
         [0037]    Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and  6 , a plurality of locating wheels  27  and a heater zone  16  are disposed at the upper portion of the crystallization machine  10  and the bottle blank  23  is delivered to the heater zone  16  by way of the actuation of the front conveyer gear disk  12 . The bottle blank  23  passes over a passage between the locating wheels  27  and two opposite sides of the bottle blank  23  are pressed down by the locating wheels  27  to have the mouth of the bottle blank fitting with the loader  32  completely. The heater zone  16  at both lateral sides thereof provides an upper heat source  29  and a lower heat source  30  respectively and the upper heat source  29  at the upper end thereof has a cover shade  28  to prevent the heat source from expanding upward. The heat from the upper heat source  29  directs to the threaded part of the mouth on a bottle and the heat from the lower heat source  30  directs to the root of the loader  32  such that the heat can be transferred to inner surface of the threaded part in the bottle blank  23  and a proper temperature can be maintained in the respective plastic bottle blank  23  to facilitate the respective plastic bottle blank  23  being released easily. The support post  32  of the loader  32  presses against the inner side of the lower part of the bottle blank  23  to prevent the threaded part thereof from softening due to the heat during the process of crystallizing and from being deformed due to the weight of the respective plastic bottle blank  23  itself. The support post  322  has an air aperture  323  to discharge the air staying in the respective bottle blank  23  during heating and the discharged air can be removed to outside through the central part of the bottle blank. The respective loader  32  is fixedly attached to the conveying loaders  31 , which connect with each other in series to form the conveyer. A stripping plate  33  is disposed on the respective conveying loader  31  and rests at a flange ring under the threaded part to push the bottle blank  23  for stripping the respective plastic bottle blank from the loader  32 .  
         [0038]    Referring to FIGS. 2, 6,  7 A and  7 B, the respective plastic bottle blank  23  is delivered to the cooling zone  17  as soon as the respective plastic bottle blank  23  is moved out from the heater zone  16 , the outer surface of the threaded part thereof is cooled down quicker and the inner side of the threaded part thereof is cooled down slower due to the loader  32  being a high temperature. The respective conveying loader  31  becomes inversed because of being driven by the rear conveying gear disk  12 ′ at the rear side of the crystallization machine  10  and the respective stripping plate  33  is located above the respective plastic bottle blank  23 . As soon as the respective conveying loader  31  moves to the release track  19 , the respective stripping plate  33  slides downward to push the respective plastic bottle blank  23  such that the respective plastic bottle blank  23  can be apart from the loader  32  and fall down to the output track  21 . The respective plastic bottle blank  23  on the output track  21  can be delivered to the collection zone  22  and the wind from the blowing pipe  18  may flow toward the respective plastic bottle blank  23  and further cools the respective plastic bottle blank  23 .  
         [0039]    Referring to FIG. 8, the stripping plate  33  provides a through hole  330  and an inner diameter of the through hole  330  is greater than the size of the threaded area on the mouth of the respective plastic bottle blank  23  so that the respective stripping plate  33  presses against the support ring  230  below to push the respective plastic bottle blank  23  away the respective loader  32  to keep the end of the mouth  231  and the threaded area of the respective plastic bottle blank off being deformed and to maintain a precise dimension thereof. But, the conventional stripping job is performed by way of the respective plastic bottle blank  23  being separated from the respective loader  32  from the mouth  231 , and the mouth  231  may be deformed easily and becomes a defection.  
         [0040]    Referring to FIG. 9, the temperature control sensor utilized in the present invention is composed of a closed loop feedback control system with a non-contact type of pyrometer. But, it is noted that it is only for taking an example and other types of temperature control sensor may be used as long as it is suitable for the present invention.  
         [0041]    The sensors  34 ,  35  are disposed at the rear side of the heater zone  16 , and the sensor  34  is used for sensing the temperature of the loader  32  and the sensor  35  is used for sensing the temperature at the threaded part of the bottle blank  23 . The temperatures sensed by the sensors  34 ,  35  are fed back to the closed loop control system and control system then controls and adjusts the temperatures at the threaded area of the bottle blank and the loader  32  respectively. In this way, the threaded area of the mouth on the bottle blank can maintain a correct size and is feasible for being stripped off the loader.  
         [0042]    It is appreciated that the features of the present invention can be summarized hereinafter:  
         [0043]    (1) The bottle blanks are delivered by way of double conveyers so that it is possible to speed up the treatment of crystallization for the bottle blanks and increase the productivity.  
         [0044]    (2) The stripping device does not affect the original size of the respective bottle blank, especially at the most important part thereof, while the bottle blank is complete for the treatment of crystallization and is released from the crystallization machine. Hence, the rate of defection resulting from the deformation can be lowered substantially.  
         [0045]    (3) The loader used in the present invention can be controlled by a closed loop sensing system so that the temperature of the loader can be controlled steadily. Hence, the bottle blank can be stripped from the loader easily to maintain the crystallized product in a state of stable and high quality.  
         [0046]    (4) Comparing to the conventional crystallization machine, a much higher efficiency for the production of the present invention can be obtained so that the economic effect resulting from the production of the present invention can be reached desirably.  
         [0047]    Apparently, it can be made a general comment that the present invention not only enhances the crystallizing effect for the plastic bottle blank but also overcomes the defects with regard to the mouth of the bottle blank being deformed easily during being stripped and the difficulty resulting from stripping the plastic bottle blank. In the mean time, the capacity of production provided by the crystallization machine can be expanded easily as soon as the heater zone is extended in length thereof and the running speed of the crystallization machine is increased. Therefore, the quality of the crystallized mouth of the plastic bottle blank can promoted substantially through the treatment of the present invention so that the present invention is a great breakthrough in the field of crystallization machine for treating the mouth of a plastic bottle blank.  
         [0048]    While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that modifications or variations may be easily made without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.