Device for positioning printed caps

Printed caps to be placed upon filled and corked bottles are forwarded onto slanted parallel guide rods which are caused to selectively rotate to present the successive caps thereon to a cap gripping and setting device with said caps having a determined position as detected by a sensing device disposed adjacent the lower end of the guide rods for sensing marks provided on the caps. The desired position of the caps is determined with respect to a proper positioning of the bottles so as to have printed patterns on the caps and the pleats thereof positioned with respect to structural features of the bottles, such as wire eyes of cork-wiring of champagne bottles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a device for positioning printed bottle 
caps by means of a device for rotating the caps and of a mark reader, more 
particularly of the photo-electronic type, to be connected, under control 
of a switching circuit, to a device for driving or forwarding the bottle 
caps. 
Description of the Prior Art 
There is known a device for positioning or directing bottles in a capping 
machine wherein printed bottle caps of the skirt type are placed in a 
given position on previously filled and corked bottles, the bottles being 
afterwards rotated until a photo-electric mark reader detects a mark 
provided on the cap thus to produce a control pulse for immobilizing the 
rotating plate carrying the bottle. In such an apparatus, the cap is 
positioned onto the bottle by causing same to rotate while taking into 
account the ulterior step of pleating or crinkling the material of the 
cap, whereby relative positioning of the printed pattern on the cap with 
respect to the bottle is however not considered. 
Such a method presents certain disadvantages more particularly for capping 
champagne or, more generally, sparkling-wine bottles which are to be 
equipped with a cork-maintaining cork-wire and which have to be covered 
with a printed covering cap since it is necessary that the wire eye or 
ringlet for locking the work-wiring be located only on the side of the 
bottle neck where folding of the cap will occur. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The overall object of the present invention is to provide a device for 
positioning printed bottle caps before they are placed onto the bottles so 
as to insure ulteriorly convenient pleating of the cap in a desired and 
convenient position onto the bottle. 
In accordance with the present invention, the positioning device comprises 
at least a pair of separate, parallel slanted guide rod means for 
forwarding by sliding the bottle caps toward a cap gripping and setting 
device, at least corresponding portions of said guide rod means being 
arranged for synchronous rotation around their longitudinal axes, and a 
mark reader means being arranged adjacent the lower ends of said guide rod 
means while being directed toward the lowermost cap on said guide rod 
means for sensing marks provided onto said lowermost cap. 
In a preferred embodiment, the guide rod means are unitary and each 
comprises a peripheral surface showing adherence properties with respect 
to the material of the cap, for instance due to static rubbing. The 
slanting angle of the pair of guide rod means is advantageously comprised 
between about 30.degree. and 40.degree.. Said guide rod means are driven 
in rotation by the driving shaft of a common driving motor coupled to a 
braking and coupling device through transmission means such as belts, 
chains or toothed wheels. 
Preferably, several pairs of guide rod means will be arranged one after 
another for simultaneous positioning and setting of several caps. 
Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the 
present disclosure in its entirety.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED FORM OF THE INVENTION 
The device for positioning printed bottle caps of the invention comprises a 
slide means extending at an angle of about 30.degree. with respect to an 
horizontal plane and comprised by a pair of separate guide rods 1 and 2 
extending parallel to each other. Each guide rod is supported for rotation 
around its longitudinal axis as indicated by the small arrows in FIG. 2. 
On said guide rods 1 and 2 is disposed a reserve stack of borttle caps 3 
which are nested one into each other, each bottle cap being provided with 
a printed pattern or marking such as 4 and a mark 5. The nested caps slide 
on the slanted guide rods to come into abutment with a stop 6 adjacent the 
lower ends of the rods. The lowermost cap on the rods may thus be taken 
conventionally by a gripping and placing device 7 for being placed, as 
illustrated by the dash-and-dotted lines 9 in FIG. 1, onto the neck of one 
of the bottles forwarded continuously below the positioning device by a 
forwarding device, for instance of the screw-type. 
In order to place a cap with the required position or orientation onto a 
bottle, the stack of nested caps 3 onto te rods 1 and 2 is caused to 
rotate around its longitudinal axis until the lowermost cap reaches the 
required position for being grasped by the gripping device. Rotation is 
imparted to the caps 3 by rotation of the guide rods 1 and 2. Accordingly, 
the guide rods 1 and 2 are driven by a common driving motor 10a associated 
to a braking and coupling device 10b, the driving shaft 11 of the driving 
motor being kinematically connected to the guide rods 1 and 2 over said 
braking and coupling device by a transmission system comprising a pair of 
driving grooved pulleys 12b and related belts 12a, as shown in FIG. 2. An 
electric switching circuit 13 selectively controls actuation of the 
braking coupling device 10b. 
The switching circuit 13 is connected to a photo-electric mark reader 14 
arranged adjacent the lower end of the guide rods so as to sense a mark 5 
on the skirt portion of the lowermost cap of the reserve stack 3 in 
abutment against the stop 6. As soon as the reserve stack of caps 3 has 
been brought by rotation of guide rods 1 and 2 into a position wherein the 
mark 5 of the lowermost cap has reached the sensing area of the reader 14, 
said latterproduces a signal for actuating, through the switching circuit 
13, the braking means of the device 10b so as to stop the rotation of the 
guide rods 1 and 2. As soon as the thus oriented lowermost cap has been 
taken by the gripping device, whereby its mark has left the reading area 
of the mark reader 14, the driving line between the guide rods and the 
driving motor is again restored in its operating state to cause the guide 
rods to rotate till the mark of the following lowermost cap in turn 
reaches the sensing area of the reader 14. 
In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, at least two adjacent 
cap positioning devices will be provided one after each other in the 
forwarding direction of the bottles so as to increase the rate of 
positioning and of setting orientated caps onto the bottles. 
As apparent from FIG. 1, the previously filled, corked and corkwired 
bottles 8 are caused to be displaced along and below the cap positioning 
device in the longitudinal direction thereof. By means of a bottle 
positioning or setting device 15 provided upstrem the transmission line, 
the bottles may be each rotated during their longitudinal displacement so 
as the wire eye 16 for locking the cork-wiring 18 arranged on the neck and 
the cork of each bottle may have at the capping station a position 
corresponding to the desired position or orientation of the printed 
pattern 4 of the bottle cap which is placed onto the neck of the bottle by 
the gripping means. The positioning device of the invention is associated 
in the capping apparatus to a cap pleating device 19 arranged downstream 
the bottle path in such a manner that pleating of the caps may be achieved 
with respect to the orientated positioning of the caps onto the bottles so 
as, according to a preferred embodiment, the locking eye 16 of the 
cork-wiring be in a position merging or in alignment with the printed 
pattern 4 of the cap, the fold lines of the cap being formed and crushed 
substantially symetrically on both sides of said printed pattern of the 
cap. 
While the present invention has been described as embodying specific means, 
it will be understood that other variations may be adopted without 
departing from the field and proper scope of the appended claims. For 
instance, the means for rotating the caps before being taken from the 
guide means may include rotating end portions of the guide rods in 
alignment with a prolongating guide means, or by a separate rotating means 
associated with said rods and intermittently cooperating with the lateral 
wall of the caps. On the other hand, in lieu of a photo-electronic mark 
reader, use can be made of any convenient sensing/reading device, for 
instance of a magnetic type, the configuration and the material of the 
marks on the caps being selected accordingly.