Apparatus for handling and/or cleansing tubular articles

Abstract: The apparatus comprises a cylinder (12) housing a rotary scroll (14). Tubular preforms (2) are fed into the cylinder (12) in an upright state and displaced along the cylinder by a fin (16) of the scroll. A spring (24) mounted on the fin (16) engages each preform (2) in turn and inverts it. The inverted preforms are then driven over a series of nozzles (30-36) discharging ionised gas to purge the preforms of debris. The preforms are then discharged.

Description: The present invention relates to apparatus for handling and/or cleansing tubular articles. In the production of bottles for soft and other drinks, containers need to be produced of the right size and filled. Bottles of plastics materials are frequently used and are often supplied in a bottling plant in a "preform" state. Such preforms are shaped in the form of a relatively small test tube (closed at one end) with a threaded open upper end and a radially outwardly extending flange located just below the upper end. Each preform is gripped by its threaded end and flange, heated, and inflated in a mould until it expands to the size of the mould to provide, for example, a two or three litre container. Any dust or debris left in the preform can have an adverse effect on the plastics during the heating and expansion phase. This often leads to weak or defective regions which, when subject to stress, are liable to rupture prematurely. To reduce this problem, the preforms are inverted and cleansed using a jet of ionised air. To invert the preforms usually requires a fairly complicated system. German specification no 1914510 discloses a system where the containers are driven along an axially extending path and then entrained by a curved guide which guides the preforms through 180° while they travel over a relatively long axial distance. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for inverting tubular articles. According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for inverting tubular articles closed at their lower ends and open at their upper ends, the apparatus comprising an elongate tubular housing, an elongate rotary scroll accommodated within the housing and extending coaxially with said housing, the scroll having a helical fin in which the space between successive turns is sized to freely accommodate an intermediate portion of each tubular article fed to the housing, said housing having an inlet opening at an upstream end thereof, to enable a succession of tubular articles, in an upright attitude, to be fed into the spaces between successive turns of the helical fin, axially extending stop means located inside the housing in the lower region thereof, the stop means being so positioned and shaped as to be engaged by the lower portion of each tubular member whereby limit displacement of said member within the housing about the axis of the housing and beyond the stop member and thereby define a path for said members to travel along one lateral side of the scroll, and engagement means at a predetermined up stream location in said path cooperating with the fin to cause the article to be rotated about the axis of the scroll by said fin until it becomes inverted, whereupon upon further rotation of the scroll, will cause the tubular article to continue its axial travel along a path on the opposite lateral side of the scroll in its inverted state characterised in that the engagement means comprises resilient means rigid with said fin which when engaging a said tubular member, clamps that tubular member to the fin to cause it to perform said rotation with said fin until it becomes inverted and engages the other side of the stop means where after further rotation of the scroll causes said resilient means to disengage said fin. Apparatus for handling tubular articles will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cut away plan view of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a cross-section taken on the line II-II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side view at the discharge end of the apparatus; and Figures 4A and 4B are, respectively, front and side elevations of a spring. The purpose of the apparatus to be described is to receive a succession of tubular articles each closed at its lower end, in the form of preforms and to displace them along a path through a dry rather than a wet cleansing station. During their passage through the cleansing station, each preform is inverted so that its open mouth faces downwardly. Each inverted preform is fed over a series of upwardly directed nozzles which inject ionised gas inside the preform. The ionised gas acts on fluff, dust, wood particles, polymer particles, insects and other residues inside the preforms to release such residues from contact with the sides of the preform to allow the residues to fall out. The gas, which may be air, acts on the residues to release any electrostatic attraction between the residues and the inner surface of the preform and also to scour the preform of the residues. The preforms are then discharged from the apparatus and returned to their upright state. The preforms are guided to a machine for heating and expanding them to the required size before filling at a bottling station. As can be more clearly seen from Figures 1 and 2, each preform comprises a tubular member 2 closed at its lower end and having a screw threaded opening at the upper end portion 4. A radially outwardly extending flange 6 is located just below the upper end portion 4. A succession of such preforms are entrained between a pair of guide rails 8 and 10 on which the flanges 6 rest. The apparatus itself comprises an elongate tubular member 12 in the form of a hollow cylinder of stainless steel. Extending coaxially with the cylinder 12 and accommodated therein is an elongate scroll 14 of plastics material. The scroll 14 is rotated about its axis by a motor (not shown). The scroll 14 has a helical fin 16. The gap between successive turns of the fin 16 is wide enough to just freely accommodate an intermediate portion of the preform 2. The cylinder 12 has a side opening 18 at its upstream end through which preforms can be fed in an upright state into the spaces between successive turns of the fin 16. The guide rails 8 and 10 are curved at a location adjacent the opening 18, to guide the preforms along a path which initially extends radially towards the scroll and then axially along the scroll. An axially extending guide stop 20 is mounted in the bottom of the cylinder 12 to limit the extent to which the preforms can rotate within the cylinder. At the point at which the preforms are introduced into the cylinder, the guide stop 20 maintains the preforms upright at least for their initial displacement along the cylinder in response to rotation of the scroll. At a location downstream of the opening 18, the fin 16 is provided with a recess 22 which accommodates a V-shaped spring 24. One arm of the spring is secured within the recess while the other arm projects out of the recess 22. When the projecting arm of the spring 24 engages an upright preform, it, in effect, clamps it to the fin 16 and, thereafter as the scroll rotates, the fin 16 lifts the preform against the gravitational force over the top of the scroll and into an inverted state. In due course, the threaded end 6 of the preform engages the guide stop 20 and so is prevent from further rotation with the fin 16. The spring 24 is then forced to disengage itself from the preform and the preform now continues to be displaced along the cylinder in an inverted attitude. Meanwhile, the spring 24 continues to rotate with the fin to engage and invert the next preform in succession. An air ioniser and pump 26 feeds ionised air along a conduit 28 to four axially spaced nozzles 30 to 36 located in the floor of the cylinder and directed upwardly towards the inverted preforms which pass immediately overhead. An opening (not shown) in the floor of the cylinder allows any debris purged from the preforms to be discharged into a container (not shown). A lateral opening 38 is provided in the cylinder 12 on the same side as the opening 18 but downstream of the spring 24 so as to allow any preforms, which have inadvertently not been inverted by the spring 24, to be discharged from the cylinder 12. At the downstream end of the cylinder 12 a discharge opening 48 is provided to allow preforms reaching the downstream end to fall freely out of the cylinder. A platform 40, inclined to both the horizontal and the vertical, is located just below the discharge opening 48 so that inverted preforms which land on the platform 40 will bounce upwardly and rotate into an inverted state. A pair of convergent guide rails 42 and 44 extending radially away from the cylinder constrain the preforms laterally. As the preforms fall downwardly the guide rails 42 and 44 will have converged sufficiently close together to support the flanges 6 and so be able to feed the now purged and upright preforms in a controlled manner onto the next processing stage. The spring 24 is more clearly shown in Figures 4A and 4B. As can be seen, the two arms 24A and 24B diverge from one another when the spring is in its relaxed state. This divergence may lie in the range of from 20° to 30°. The spring 24 has a boss 24C at which the two arms meet. The boss 24C is provided with a through hole 24D for receiving a screw 46 which engages a radially extending screw threaded opening in the recess 22 of the fin 16. The boss 24C has a cut away portion 24E to accommodate the head of the screw 46. The material of the spring is a modified nylon 66 with Molybdenum Disulphide (MoS 2 ). Instead, other forms of spring or clamping devices may be used. The spring is subject to wear and so is preferably readily replaceable. In the apparatus described, the preforms are inverted with the aid of the V-shaped spring and are then reinverted by bouncing them off the platform 40.

Claims: Apparatus for inverting tubular articles (2) closed at their lower ends and open at their upper ends (4), the apparatus comprising an elongate tubular housing (12), an elongate rotary scroll (14) accommodated within the housing (12) and extending coaxially with said housing (12), the scroll (14) having a helical fin (16) in which the space between successive turns is sized to freely accommodate an intermediate portion of each tubular article (2) fed to the housing (12), said housing (12) having an inlet opening (18) at an upstream end thereof, to enable a succession of tubular articles (2), in an upright attitude, to be fed into the spaces between successive turns of the helical fin (16), axially extending stop means (20) located inside the housing (12) in the lower region thereof, the stop means (20) being so positioned and shaped as to be engaged by the lower portion of each tubular member (1) whereby to limit displacement of said member (2) within the housing (12) about the axis of the housing (12) and beyond the stop member (20) and thereby to define a path for said members to travel along one lateral side of the scroll (14), and engagement means (24) at a predetermined up stream location in said path cooperating with the fin (16) to cause the article (2) to be rotated about the axis of the scroll (14) by said fin (16) until it becomes inverted, whereupon upon further rotation of the scroll (14), will cause the tubular article (2) to continue its axial travel along a path on the opposite lateral side of the scroll (14) in its inverted state characterised in that the engagement means comprises resilient means (24) rigid with said fin (16) which when engaging a said tubular member (2), clamps that tubular member (2) to the fin (16) to cause it to perform said rotation with said fin (16) until it becomes inverted and engages the other side of the stop means (20) where after further rotation of the scroll (14) causes said resilient means (24) to disengage said fin (16). Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that said resilient means (24) comprises a V-shaped spring member partially accommodated within a recess (22) in said fin (16) and having a pair of arms (24A,24B) which diverge away from one another from a central boss (24C). Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterised in that said spring means (24) comprises a plastics material preferably a modified nylon 66 with Molybdium Disulphide (MoS 2 ). Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the housing (12) has a lower discharge opening (48) at a downstream end thereof through which tubular articles (2) reaching said downstream end in an inverted attitude may be discharged. Apparatus according to Claim 4, characterised by means for reinverting each said inverted tubular member (2), said means providing a surface (40) inclined to both the horizontal and vertical located below said discharge opening (48) at a location in which each inverted tubular article (2) can land and be imparted with an angular reaction so as to bounce up into an upright attitude, and guide means (42) for engaging each tubular article as it reaches its upright attitude, to feed the article (2) in its upright state along a predetermined path. Apparatus according to Claim 5, characterised in that the guide means (42) are arranged to engage a radially outwardly directed flange adjacent an upper end of each tubular article (2). Apparatus according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, characterised by further guide means (8,10) for engaging the flange of each said tubular article (2) and feeding said tubular articles in succession into said inlet opening (18). Apparatus according to any preceding claims, characterised by means (30 to 36) for directing at least one stream of ionised gas upwardly into each inverted tubular article (2) as it is driven along said housing (12). Apparatus according to Claim 8, characterised in that the housing (12) is provided with an opening below said ionised gas stream producing means to allow debris from said tubular articles (2) to be discharged from said housing (12).

Inventors: CAREY ROGER, CAREY, ROGER, Carey, Roger, c/o Ramic Engineering Co., Ltd.
Applicants: COCA COLA ENTPR LTD, COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES LIMITED
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B08B5
IPC codes: B08B9, B08B6, B08B5, B29C49