Multi position bottle guide assembly

A new and improved multi position bottle guide assembly for bottles suspended by a neck ring and conveyed by pneumatic power. The bottle guide assembly includes a pair of elongated guide rails positioned along the path of travel of a bottle which is pneumatically conveyed while supported by a neck ring. The rails are adapted to be in proximity to the sides of the bottle on opposite sides of its path of travel to preclude lateral movement. Further included are support mechanisms for the rails located at the ends of the rails. Also included are a plurality of rods for supporting the rails. Each rod has coupling mechanisms for the support mechanism at a first end and a piston at the second end. A block for each rod has a bore of a diameter essentially that of the diameter of its piston and extends through the block with its axis in alignment with the axis of the rod. Further included are a pair of axially spaced pneumatic ports extending through the block in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the bore and on opposite sides of the piston whereby when pressurized air is introduced through the port adjacent to the rail the piston moves away from the rail to accommodate larger bottles and when pressurized air is introduced into the port remote from the rail, the piston moves towards the rail to accommodate smaller bottles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a multi position bottle guide assembly and, more 
particularly, to pneumatically conveying plastic bottles suspended from 
neck rails while applying stabilizing forces to the lower portions of the 
bottles. 
2. Description of the Background Art 
Many types of plastic bottles are in wide use today throughout the 
carbonated beverage and other industries, in large part, because of their 
economical cost to manufacture. Such plastic bottles are usually formed 
from injection molded parisons having threaded upper necks, lower 
cylinders closed at the bottom, and neck support rings therebetween. The 
parisons are then blow molded beneath the neck support rings into the 
desired size and shape by heating the parisons in molds while blowing air 
internally. 
Blow molded plastic bottles have been traditionally shaped with cylindrical 
side walls throughout the majority of their lower extents and with 
high-angle, conically-shaped, transition portions between the upper ends 
of the cylindrical side walls and the neck support rings. The transition 
portions thus functions to join the upper, small diameter, threaded 
portions with the lower, large diameter, side wall portions. The side 
walls are enlarged to any one of a plurality of standard sizes. 
Plastic bottles are normally conveyed while suspended by their neck support 
rings from spaced parallel neck rails. The bottles are conveyed 
continuously, in a contiguous orientation with the cylindrical side walls 
of all bottles in a fed stream touching the next adjacent bottles, front 
and back, with long lines of contact. The motives force for conveying is 
supplied by a high volume, low pressure plenum chamber above the neck 
rails. The directional force for conveying is supplied through louvers in 
the plenum chamber walls. Side rails preclude lateral shifting of the 
bottles while being conveyed. Forward and rearward swinging of the bottles 
occurs to a limited extent but is not a significant problem. 
It has been found, however, that conveying problems arise when plastic 
bottles of different sizes are conveyed by a common conveyor. Such 
conveying problems are due in large part to improperly located side rails. 
Further, the proper positioning of side rails to accommodate bottles of a 
next size, different from a prior size, can be a time consuming project 
resulting in excessive down time and unnecessary costs. When side rails 
are not positioned properly, misfeeds result with even more down time and 
greater inconvenience and cost. 
Pneumatic conveying systems for plastic bottles with neck rings are in wide 
use today and are described in the patent literature. Note for example, 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,284,370 to Danier and 4,822,214 to Aidlin. No known 
pneumatic conveying system, however, has the capability to provide side 
rails with automatic repositioning of the side rails as a function of the 
size of the bottles being fed. 
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement 
which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices 
and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the 
advancement of the pneumatic conveyors. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved multi position bottle guide assembly for bottles suspended by a 
neck ring and conveyed by pneumatic power comprising a pair of elongated 
guide rails positioned along the path of travel of a bottle which is 
pneumatically conveyed while supported by a neck ring. The rails are 
adapted to be in proximity to the sides of the bottle on opposite sides of 
its path of travel to preclude lateral movement. Also included are support 
means for the rails located at ends of the rails. Further included are a 
plurality of rods for supporting the rails. Each rod has coupling means 
for the support means at a first end and has a piston at the second end. 
Also included is a block for each rod which has a bore of a diameter 
essentially that of the diameter of its piston and extends through the 
block with its axis in alignment with the axis of the rod. Further 
included is a pair of axially spaced pneumatic ports which extend through 
the block in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the bore and on 
opposite sides of the piston whereby when pressurized air is introduced 
through the port adjacent to the rail, the piston moves away from the rail 
to accommodate larger bottles and when pressurized air is introduced into 
the port remote from the rail, the piston is moved towards the rail to 
accommodate smaller bottles. 
It is a further object of the invention to convey plastic bottles in a more 
efficient, reliable and rapid manner. 
It is a further object of the invention to abate misfeeds of bottles 
conveyed by pneumatic conveyors. 
It is a further object of the invention to apply a lateral stabilizing 
force to the lower portions of bottles of any one of a plurality of sizes 
being conveyed for thereby eliminating lateral swinging with attendant 
misfeeds. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide guide rails 
which are adjustable to facilitate the feeding of bottles of various 
sizes. 
It is a further object of the invention to more efficiently convey various 
sized bottles. 
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. 
These objects should be construed to merely illustrative of some of the 
more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many 
other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed 
invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the 
scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller 
understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the 
preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by 
the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is defined by the appended claims with the specific 
embodiment shown in the attached drawings. For the purpose of summarizing 
this invention, this invention comprises a new and improved multi position 
bottle guide assembly for bottles suspended by a neck ring and conveyed by 
pneumatic power comprising a pair of elongated guide rails which are 
positioned along the path of travel of a bottle which is pneumatically 
conveyed while supported by a neck ring. The rails are adapted to be in 
proximity to the sides of the bottle on opposite sides of its path of 
travel to preclude lateral movement. Also included are support means for 
the rails located at ends of the rails. Further included are a plurality 
of rods for supporting the rails. Each rod has coupling means for the 
support means at a first end and a piston at the second end. A block for 
each rod has a bore of a diameter essentially that of the diameter of its 
piston and extends through the block with its axis in alignment with the 
axis of its rod. Further included are a pair of axially spaced pneumatic 
ports which extend through the block in a direction perpendicular to the 
axis of the bore and on opposite sides of the piston whereby when 
pressurized air is introduced through the port adjacent to the rail the 
piston moves away from the rail to accommodate larger bottles and when 
pressurized air is introduced into the port remote from the rail, the 
piston moves towards the rail to accommodate smaller bottles. Also 
included are a plurality of second rods, each second rod having a fixed 
first end and a second piston at its second end. Further included is a 
second block which is coupled to the first block on the side thereof 
remote from the rails and having a bore of a diameter essentially that of 
the diameter of the second piston and extending through the block with its 
axis in alignment with the axis of its rod. Further included are a pair of 
axially spaced pneumatic ports extending through the block. At least one 
is in a direction perpendicular to the bore and radially with respect to 
the rod. The ports are on opposite sides of the piston whereby, when 
pressurized air is fed in through the port remote the rail, the second 
block moves away with respect to the fixed second end towards the rail to 
accommodate smaller bottles and when pneumatic air is introduced into the 
port adjacent to the rail, it will move the rail towards the blocks to 
accommodate larger bottles. 
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important 
features of the present invention in order that the detailed description 
of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present 
contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features 
of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of 
the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in 
the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be 
readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures 
for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should 
also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent 
constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as 
set forth in the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The present invention, the new and improved multi position bottle guide 
assembly, is comprised of a plurality of component elements. In their 
broadest context, the invention includes pairs of elongated guide rails, 
support means for the rails, first rods for the rails having first pistons 
thereadjacent, a first block for each rod and piston, pneumatic ports for 
each first block, a plurality of second rods each with a piston, second 
blocks for each rod and piston and axially spaced ports for the blocks. 
The components are specifically configured and correlated with respect to 
each other so as to attain the desired objective. 
Shown in the Figures, with particular reference to FIG. 1, there is shown 
an apparatus 10 for pneumatically conveying articles or plastic bottles 
12. The bottles are preferably of the type having a small diameter 
threaded upper portion 14, a large diameter lower portion 16 and a 
low-angle, transition portion 18 therebetween. Further, the bottles have a 
neck support ring 20 between the upper portion and the transition portion. 
The central component of the apparatus 10 is a conveyor 24 defining a path 
of travel along its length with means for receiving the upper portions of 
the article to be conveyed. Preferably, the conveyor comprises a pair of 
laterally spaced neck rails 26. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the neck rails 
define the path of travel along their lengths. The neck rails have upper 
surfaces for receiving the neck rings of the bottles being conveyed. A 
space 28 between the neck rails defines an elongated slot therebetween. 
The slot slidably supports a bottle by its neck ring. 
The apparatus further includes a plenum chamber 32. The plenum chamber is 
coupled to the upper surfaces of the neck rails. See FIG. 2. Further, the 
plenum includes directional louvers 34. In the preferred embodiment, the 
plenum chamber is formed of an inverted, U-shaped, interior channel 
member. This member extends upwardly from the neck rails and spans the 
slot. The member has a cross-sectional area sufficient to receive portions 
of the bottles above their neck rings. The interior channel member has a 
top wall and side walls coupled to the neck rails. Additionally, the top 
wall and side walls are all formed with air directing louvers formed 
therein as shown in FIG. 2. The air directing louvers provide a driving 
force for the bottles along the path of travel. 
Furthermore, an inverted U-shaped, exterior channel member 36 is also 
coupled to the neck rails. The exterior channel member, like the interior 
channel member, extends upwardly from the path of travel and neck rails 
and encloses the interior channel member. The exterior channel member 
extends longitudinally the length of the slot. 
A motion imparting means is provided to move the received bottles to be 
conveyed. Preferably, the motion imparting means is a pressure source or 
fan operatively coupled to the plenum chamber. When activated, air under 
pressure fills the plenum chamber and thereafter moves through the louvers 
to thereby convey the bottles which are suspended on the neck rails along 
the path of travel. See FIG. 1. 
The apparatus further includes pairs of guide rails 42. The guide rails are 
positioned along the path of travel and are laterally disposed adjacent to 
the opposite sides of the upper extents of the bottles. As the bottles are 
conveyed, the guide rails preclude lateral shifting of the bottles. 
More specifically, the invention includes a pair of elongated guide rails 
42 which are laterally adjustable. The rails 42 are adapted to be in 
proximity to the sides of the bottle on opposite sides of its path of 
travel. They function to preclude lateral movement and are spaced for the 
specific size of the bottle being conveyed. 
Located in association with the guide rails are support means 44. A pair of 
support means are provided for each rail. They are preferably located 
adjacent to the ends of each rail. In addition, a pair of support means 
and supported rail is located on each side of the bottle for equal and 
opposite movement with respect to the path of travel of the bottle. Note 
FIG. 2. 
Next provided are first rods 46. A plurality of such first rods are 
utilized for supporting the rails and are equal in number to the number of 
the support means 44. The first rods are oriented in a horizontal 
orientation. Each first rod has a coupling means 52 for retaining the 
support means at a first end and hence the supported rail. Each rod has a 
second end with a first piston 48 at such second end. 
A first block 58 is provided for each rod and piston. Each such first block 
has a bore 50. Its diameter is essentially equal to that of the diameter 
of the piston. The piston is located within the block for axial movement 
with respect thereto. The bore extents through the block with its axis in 
alignment with the axis of the rod and piston. The rod extends through an 
aperture 52 in the end of the block adjacent to the support means and 
rails. 
Formed in the first block are a pair of pneumatic ports 54 and 55. Such 
ports are axially spaced with respect to each other and extend through the 
block in a direction perpendicular to the bore and radially with respect 
to the rod. They are located on opposite sides of the piston. In this 
manner, when pressurized air is introduced through the port 54 adjacent to 
the rail, the piston moves away from the rail to accommodate larger 
bottles. When pressurized air is introduced to the port 55 remote from the 
rail, the piston moves towards the rail to accommodate smaller bottles. 
In order to extend the utility of the adjustment mechanisms, a plurality of 
second rods 56 is also provided. Each such second rod has a fixed first 
end and a piston 59 at its second end. A second block 60 is coupled to the 
first block on the side of the first block remote from the rails. The 
second block has a bore 62 of a diameter essentially that of the diameter 
of the second piston. The bore extends through the block with its axis in 
alignment with the axis of the rod. An aperture 64 extends through the 
side of the second block remote from the rail for movement of the second 
rod therethrough. 
The last component of the system are a pair of axially spaced pneumatic 
ports 66 and 67 extending through the second block. One of the ports 66 is 
in a direction perpendicular to the bore and radially with respect to the 
rod. The other port 67 extends through the end of the block. The ports are 
on opposite sides of the piston. In this manner, when pressurized air is 
fed through the port 67 remote from the rail, the second block moves away 
with respect to the second end 68 secured to a fixed support toward the 
rail. This is to accommodate smaller bottles. When pressurized air is 
introduced into the port adjacent to the rail, it will move the rail 
towards the blocks to accommodate larger bottles. 
FIG. 2 shows, in dotted line configurations, the four sizes of bottles 
normally fed by a pneumatic conveyor. In FIG. 2, the guide rails are 
located for the feeding of the smallest of bottles. 
FIGS. 3 through 6, when taken in conjunction with FIGS. 7 through 10, are 
further illustrations of the various settings of the side rails for the 
various size bottles being fed. In FIGS. 3 and 7, the largest of bottles 
is being conveyed. The blocks are in the retracted positions and the 
piston of the first block is moved away from the bottle and its path of 
travel. The piston orientation is best seen in FIG. 7. 
In feeding the next largest bottle, reference is had to FIGS. 4 and 8. In 
such situation, the air has been provided to the side of the second piston 
remote from the bottle to move the second piston toward the bottle. This 
brings the guide rails together to a limited extent. 
FIGS. 5 and 9 illustrate the blocks moved away from the bottle and its path 
of travel with pressurized air moved to the side of the first piston 
remote from the bottle and its path of travel. This moves these guide 
rails inwardly to a greater extent. 
FIGS. 6 and 10 are illustrations showing the guide rails together to the 
greatest extent for feeding the smallest of bottles. In such situation, 
air is supplied to the first block on the side thereof remote from the 
bottle and its path of travel while pressurized air is fed to the second 
block on the side thereof adjacent to the bottle to move the blocks away 
from the fixed end. Consequently, the rails are moved towards each other 
to the greatest extent. 
Lastly, FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of the blocks for receiving air 
to effect movement of the associated pistons and, consequently, the side 
rails. In this showing two pistons R1 and R2 are on one side of the bottle 
and two pistons E1 and E2 are shown on opposite sides of the bottle for 
concurrent movement with respect to each other. Also shown are the various 
ports into which pressurized air may be fed from a source of pressure PS 
in order to effect the appropriate shifting of the piston and movement of 
the side rails. A common micro-processor, not shown, is provided to 
activate and inactivate the appropriate valves E2, R2, E1, R1, etc., for 
correlating the feeding of air to the various locations within the blocks. 
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as 
well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has 
been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of 
particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the 
preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous 
changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement 
of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of 
the invention. 
Now that the invention has been described,