Abstract:
A conveyor and carriage assembly are synchronized to increase the speed of operation and eliminate any dwell periods to improve the rate at which a linear container filler is able to fill containers with a material. The fill rate approaches or exceeds that of prior art linear and rotary filling machines.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     I. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to equipment used to fill containers with liquids, other fluids or other fluidized materials such as powders and granulated solids, hereinafter all collectively referred to as fluids or material. More specifically, the present invention relates to continuous motion linear container filling machines. 
     II. Related Art 
     Since the 1870&#39;s, there has been an on-going effort to invent even faster and more efficient bottle filling machines. In 1874, for example, Charles H. Wight was awarded U.S. Patent No. 156,518 on a bottle filling machine that filled bottles “with greater rapidity than the usual process, without waste of material or breakage of bottles”. Numerous patents directed to bottle filling machines were awarded between 1900 and 1910. In 1923, R. L. Nicholas et al was awarded U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,211 for a bottle filling machine having a rotatable table. Empty bottles are fed onto the table, rotated to a filling position where they are filled and then discharged from the table and capped. In 1950, U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,465 was granted to G. J. Meyer on another filling machine drive with a rotary bottle filling station. 
     More recently, a variety of linear bottle filling machines have been developed. None, however, have heretofore been able to fill bottles as fast as rotary filling machines. With respect to many of these machines, this is because these machines stop the bottles at the filling station and then restart movement of the bottles after a subset of the bottles have been filled. Machines that use conveyors that do not stop the bottles at the filling station tend to move the bottles at relatively slow speeds. This is necessary to align empty bottles with the fill nozzles of the liquid dispensing apparatus during filling. Also, the dispensing apparatus and nozzles have significant dwell periods in which they sit idle until the slow moving conveyor moves empty bottles into position. Thus, the space saving advantages of linear filling equipment have been offset by the slow container filling routine as compared to rotary filling equipment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing, there is a real need for filling equipment that offers the space saving advantages of a linear machine yet achieves substantially the same (or faster) bottle filling rates as rotary filling machines. The present invention achieves these goals by providing a linear filling machine having nozzles that are in constant motion without any dwell period during operation. Even greater fill rates may be achieved by providing a linear filling machine capable of filling a plurality of rows of containers at a filling station simultaneously. 
     In one embodiment, an apparatus for filling containers with a material is provided. The containers each have a top opening with a center point. The apparatus comprises a base, a conveyor, a carriage assembly and a microcontroller. The conveyor is coupled to the base. The conveyor is adapted to carry the plurality of containers in at least one row of containers in a first direction. The containers are carried by the conveyor at a predetermined constant speed with the center points of the top openings of the adjacent containers in each row of containers being a predetermined distance apart. 
     The carriage assembly is coupled to the base and disposed above the conveyor. The carriage assembly has a vertical carriage, a horizontal carriage, and a plurality of nozzles. Each nozzle has an ejection port. The horizontal carriage is adapted to reciprocate side to side between a first termination point and a second termination point. The vertical carriage is coupled to the horizontal carriage and adapted to be moved up and down relative to the conveyor between a raised position and a lowered position. The nozzles are arranged in the same number of rows as the number of rows of containers carried by the conveyor. The nozzles are adapted to move up and down with the vertical carriage and side to side with the horizontal carriage. Each row of nozzles has a leading nozzle. The ejection ports of each adjacent pair of nozzles in each row of nozzles is the same predetermined distance apart as the center points of the top openings of the containers in a row of containers carried by the conveyor. 
     Servomotors drive the conveyor and turn screw gears to move the vertical carriage up and down between the raised and lowered positions and the horizontal carriage side-to-side between the first and second termination points. A controller is adapted to control the servomotors and, thus, synchronize movement of the conveyor and the vertical and horizontal carriages. Specifically, the controller controls a first servomotor to regulate the up and down movement of the vertical carriage. The controller also controls a second servomotor to regulate the reciprocating side-to-side movement of the horizontal carriage between the two termination points. At least one other servomotor controls the conveyor&#39;s speed and position. 
     When the apparatus described above is in use, the conveyor carries a plurality of containers in the first direction. The controller also repeatedly cycles the carriage assembly to:
         cause the horizontal carriage, upon reaching the first termination point, to immediately move toward the second termination point with each of the nozzles aligned with the top openings of containers to be filled,   cause the vertical carriage, while the horizontal carriage is moving from the first termination point to the second termination point, to move from the raised position to the lowered position so that each of the nozzles engages a container to be filled with the material and, after the containers engaged by the nozzles are filled with the material, to return to the raised position no later than the point in time at which horizontal carriage reaches the second termination point,   cause the horizontal carriage to move toward the first termination point immediately upon the horizontal carriage reaching the second termination point, and   cause the leading nozzle of each row of nozzles to be positioned above the first yet to be filled container in each row of containers upon the horizontal carriage assembly reaching the first termination point and beginning to again move back toward the second termination point.
 
The above-described movements of the conveyor and the vertical and horizontal carriages are repeated until a desired number of the containers are filled with the material.
       

     As should be clear from the foregoing, movement of the first and second carriages of the carriage assembly is coordinated with the speed at which containers are carried by the conveyor. Also, since the conveyor is constantly moving, and there is no dwell in the operation of the carriage assembly, the rate at which the containers are filled may be maximized. 
     By increasing the number of nozzles in a row and the number of rows of nozzles (and rows of containers), the speed of the linear filing machine of the present invention certainly equals and, in fact, can easily exceed the filling rate achieved using prior art rotary and linear filing equipment. 
     Various other features may be provided. For example, the conveyor may comprise one or more screws, each turned by a servomotor controlled by the controller to control the rate at which the screws turn and, thus, the rate at which the containers move through the filling apparatus. Also, screws with differently shaped flights may be used to accommodate containers of different sizes and shapes. The type of nozzles used may be varied. Also, flow through the nozzles may be controlled either via valves opened and closed by the controller, pumps turned on and off by the controller, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the valves may be mechanically and automatically actuated so the valves are open when the nozzles are in engagement with the container opening and close when the nozzles disengage from the containers. When a pump alone is employed to control flow through the nozzles, a mechanically and automatically actuated switch may be employed that closes a circuit energizing the pump when the nozzles are in engagement with the container openings and opens the circuit to shut off the pump and flow when the nozzles disengage from the container openings. The number of lines of nozzles and the number of nozzles in a line may be varied. Also, a mechanism other than screws turned by servomotors may be employed to move the carriages of the carriage assemblies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and with reference to the following drawings in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a continuous motion linear container filled; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the continuous motion linear container filler of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of a second embodiment of a continuous motion linear container filler; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial top view of the conveyor of the continuous motion linear container filler of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an end view of the conveyor of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of the conveyor shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of the continuous motion linear container filler of  FIG. 3  showing a carriage assembly having a vertical carriage in its raised position and a horizontal carriage at a first termination point; 
         FIG. 8  is a front view showing the carriage assembly of  FIG. 7  with the vertical carriage assembly in its lowered position and the horizontal carriage just to the right of the first termination point; 
         FIG. 9  is a front view of the carriage assembly of  FIG. 7  with the vertical carriage assembly in its lowered position and the horizontal carriage about midway between the first termination point and second termination point; 
         FIG. 10  is a front view of the carriage assembly of  FIG. 7  with the vertical carriage in its lowered position and the horizontal carriage at the second termination point; 
         FIG. 11  is a front view of the carriage assembly of  FIG. 7  with the vertical carriage in the raised position and the horizontal carriage at the second termination point; 
         FIG. 12  is a front view of the carriage assembly of  FIG. 7  with the vertical carriage in the raised position and the horizontal carriage about between the second termination point and the first termination point; 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic diagram showing a controller coupled to the devices of the filler that may be controlled by the controller; 
         FIG. 14  is a graph illustrating the motion of the conveyor and nozzles of a prior art filling machine; and 
         FIG. 15  is a graph illustrating the motion of the conveyor and nozzles of a filler made in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, reference is made to various exemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described with sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments may be employed, and that structural and other changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 
     This description of the preferred embodiment is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top” and “bottom”, “under”, as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, “upwardly”, “underside”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “connected”, “connecting”, “attached”, “attaching”, “joined”, and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece unless expressly described otherwise. 
     As shown in the drawings, the continuous motion container filler  1  comprises a base  2 , a conveyor assembly comprising a conveyor  3  and a carriage assembly  4 . The base  2  supports the conveyor  3  and carriage assembly  4 . 
     The base  2  comprises feet  10  which support the base  2  above the floor of a plant. The base  2  also includes a housing comprising a front wall  12  having a pair of doors  14  and  16 . The base  2  also includes side walls  18  and a rear wall  20 . Each side wall includes a downwardly extending conveyor support receiver slot  22 . Extending inwardly from the front wall  12  and inwardly from the rear wall is a pair of horizontal top panels  24  and  26 . The distance between the top panels  24  and  26  is greater than or equal to the width of the conveyor support receiver slots  22 . Extending upwardly from the top panel  26  is carriage assembly support  28 . 
     Two embodiments of conveyor  3  are shown in the drawings. A conveyor  3  designed to convey the containers  30  (each having a top opening  31 ) in a single row  32  is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . A conveyor  3  designed to convey the containers  30  in two parallel rows  32  and  34  are shown in  FIGS. 3-12 . In either case, conveyor  3  includes a conveyor support  36  mounted across the frame  2  and extending through and beyond the conveyor support receiver slots  22 . The conveyor  3 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , includes a pair of screws  38  and  40  extending the length of the conveyor  3 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4-6 , each screw  38  and  40  includes a shaft  42  and a flight  44  extending in a spiral fashion along the length of the shaft  42 . The shaft  42  defines a longitudinal axis. The spaces  46  between adjacent turns of the flight  44  are adapted so that containers  30  of a particular size reside in the spaces  46  between each pair of turns of flight  44 . Turning of the screws  38  and  40  along the longitudinal axis of shaft  42  in unison (using a single motor and gears or a pair of motors) causes containers  30  to be moved by the flights  44  of the screws  38  and  40  the length of the conveyor  3 . 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3-12 , the containers  30  are carried by the flights  44  of screws  38  and  40  in two rows  32  and  34 . This is achieved by installing a guide plate  48  between the two screws that extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shafts  42  of screws  38  and  40 . These shafts  38  and  40  are also parallel to each other. 
     Of course, some device must be used to divide the container  30  into first row  32  and second row  34 . Various such devices are well known in the conveyor art. One such device is shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     Specifically,  FIG. 6  shows at the left hand side a first funnel mechanism comprising funnel plates  43  that funnels the containers  30  into a single row. The flights  44  of the two screws cooperate on the left hand side of  FIG. 6  to carry the single row of containers  30  to offset dividing members  50  in the contours of the flights  44 . These offset dividing members position, in an alternating fashion, the containers  30  on opposite sides of the guide plate  48 . As illustrated, the containers  30  that form the first row  32  are offset from the containers  30  that form the second row  34 . At the same time, the guide plate  48  and the screws  38  and  40  maintain the two rows  32  and  34  parallel to each other. The two screws  38  and  40 , in design and construction, resemble mirror images of each other (but this is not necessarily the case depending on the shape of the containers for example) with one screw having right hand threads and the other having left hand threads. They are installed and operate so that the two screws  38  and  40  rotate in a coordinated fashion so that these screws not only push the containers forward, but also apply a downward rubbing force against the containers as the screws rotate which serves to stabilize the containers on the conveyor. When viewed as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , screw  38  rotates clockwise and screw  40  rotates counterclockwise. If the rotation of the screws  38  and  40  were to rotate upwardly with respect to the containers rather than downwardly, the upward rubbing force would lift the containers making them unstable. 
     Further, the center points of the top openings  31  of any two adjacent containers in row  32  are the same distance apart. As shown, they also form a substantially equilateral triangle with the center point of a top opening  31  of a container  30  in row  34 , but this is not necessarily the case. What is Important is that the spacing between the top openings of containers of a row and the spacing between the top openings of containers two rows be adapted based on the spacing of the nozzles. The containers are carried in this configuration through the filling station  6  of the filler  1 . After the containers  30  are filled and exit the filling station  6 , the two rows  32  and  34  are merged back into a single row as the containers  30  exit the conveyor  3  by a second funnel mechanism comprising funnel plates  49 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , screw  38  is rotated by a motor  104  and screw  40  is rotated by a motor  106 . A single motor may be used in which case a gear train or drive belt is used to rotatably couple the motor to the shafts  42 . Such motor(s) may be servomotors, which send signals to and receive signals from a controller  100 , as shown schematically in  FIG. 13 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 and 7-12 , the carriage assembly  4  is mounted to the carriage assembly support  28  of the base  2 . The carriage assembly  4  includes a vertical carriage  52  adapted to reciprocate between a raised position shown in  FIG. 7  and a lowered position shown in  FIG. 8 . Such motion is achieved by mounting the vertical carriage for reciprocation movement along vertically extending parallel rails  54  and  56  that are fixed to the carriage assembly support  28 . The up and down motion of the vertical carriage  52  along rails  54  and  56  is imparted by a screw jack  58  comprising servomotor  60  that rotates an elongate threaded screw  62  that is coupled to a threaded member  63  fixed to the vertical carriage  52 . 
     Secured to the front of the vertical carriage is a horizontal track  64 . Coupled to the track  64  in a manner that permits it to reciprocate horizontally along the track  64  is a horizontal carriage  66 . The horizontal carriage  66  is able to reciprocate along the track  64  between a first termination point illustrated in  FIG. 7  and a second termination point illustrated in  FIG. 11 . The reciprocating motion is supplied by a servomotor  68  operatively coupled to the horizontal carriage  66  in any of a variety of ways, e.g., by a sprocket and chain arrangement, by a pulley and belt arrangement, or by a screw jack arrangement of the same type used to move vertical carriage  52 . 
     Mounted to the horizontal carriage  66  is a plurality of nozzles. Six nozzles  70 - 75  are aligned in a single row in  FIG. 1 . In  FIGS. 7-12 , two rows of six nozzles are shown. The first row comprises nozzles  70 - 75 . The second row comprises nozzles  76 - 81 . Each nozzle  70 - 81  has an ejection port at the bottom through which fluid from the nozzles flows into the containers. As such, the spacing of the nozzles  70 - 75  and of nozzles  76 - 81  is such that the ejection ports of each nozzle employed is immediately above or has passed through the top opening  31  of a container  30  as material is dispensed from the nozzles. 
     In the case of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , each of the nozzles  70 - 75  is spaced in a single line. The spacing between each adjacent pair of nozzles, and more particularly the spacing between the ejection ports of adjacent pairs of nozzles, is the same as the spacing between the center points of the top openings  31  of adjacent pairs of containers  30  carried by conveyor  3  so that all six of nozzles  70 - 75  may be centered simultaneously over the openings  31  of six containers  30  in the row  32  of containers. 
     In the case of the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , each of nozzles  70 - 75  are spaced in a first row as described above. Nozzles  76 - 81  are spaced in a second row. The spacing between each adjacent nozzle, and more particularly, the spacing between the ejection ports of the adjacent pairs of nozzles  76 - 81  is the same as the spacing between the center points of the top openings of adjacent containers  30  of the second row  34  of containers carried by the conveyor  3 . Further, the spacing between the first row of nozzles  70 - 75  and the second row of nozzles  76 - 81  is the same as the distance between the first row  32  and the second row  34  of containers. As such, each nozzle  70 - 81  is able to be simultaneously positioned so that the ejection port of each nozzle is over the top opening  31  of separate containers  30  to be filled. 
     In view of the foregoing, it should be clear that the spacing between the nozzles ( 70 - 75  in the case of the embodiment of  FIG. 1, and 70-81  in the case of the embodiment of  FIG. 7 ) must be such that all nozzles can be simultaneously positioned over the top openings  31  of containers  30  to be filled. Likewise, to actually fill the containers  30  with material using the nozzles, the nozzles must move in synchronicity with the containers. This is achieved by providing a controller  100  that coordinates movement (and operation) of the nozzles with movement of the containers. 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , the controller  100  is a computer coupled to a switch or router  102 . The switch  102  couples the controller  100  to five motors. Motor  104  turns the screw  38  and motor  106  turns the screw  40  of conveyor  3 . As described above, motor  60  turns the screw  62  of the screw jack  58  to move the vertical carriage  52  up and down and motor  68  moves the horizontal carriage  66  side to side. The fifth motor is part of the pump/motor assembly  108  that pumps material from a vented reservoir  110  to the valves in each of nozzles  70 - 81 . The opening and closing of these valves is also under the control of controller  100 . Ideally, each of the motors is a servomotor that provides feedback related to its state, position and speed to the controller  100 . The controller processes this data to generate control signals to the valves and motors to regulate the operation of the filler  1 . 
     More specifically, the controller  100  sends control signals to the motors  104  and  106  to control position of screws  38  and  40  and the speed at which the screws  38  and  40  turn. Thus, the position and speed of the containers  30  carried by the conveyor is regulated by the controller  100 . The controller  100  also sends signals to the motor  60  to control the position, timing and speed of the vertical carriage  52  as it is moved up and down. The controller  100 , likewise, sends control signals to motor  68  to control the position, timing and speed of the horizontal carriage  66  as it moves side to side. The controller  100  may also send control signals to the pump/motor assembly  108  and/or the valves associated with each of the nozzles  70 - 81  to regulate the flow of material through the nozzles and into the containers to ensure that material is only placed in the container and not spilled or wasted. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 7-12 , the movement of the carriages  52  and  66  of carriage assembly  4  will now be explained. First, with the valves of the nozzles closed, the horizontal carriage  66  and the vertical carriage  52  are in the “start” position, shown in  FIG. 1 . The controller  100  then turns on the motors  104  and  106  causing the two screws  38  and  40  to turn. The controller  100  monitors and controls the speed of motors  104  and  106  to synchronize the turning of the screws  38  and  40 . Once the screws  38  and  40  on conveyor  3  are so synchronized, the controller sends signals to motor  68  causing the motor  68  to move the horizontal carriage  66  to the left so that the ejection port of each of nozzles  70 - 81  is and remains properly aligned. 
     Once the desired predetermined speed and synchronicity of the screws  38  and  40  is achieved and proper alignment and synchronization of the horizontal carriage  66  with the conveyor  3  is also achieved, containers  30  are supplied to the conveyor  3 . Control signals are also sent to servomotor  60  causing it to lower the vertical carriage  52  so the nozzles  70 - 75  and  76 - 81  engage (e.g., mate with) the top openings of the containers  30 . When the nozzles are in the position shown in  FIG. 8 , the controller  100  sends a control signal to the motor of pump/motor assembly  108  and/or the valves of the nozzles  70 - 81  causing a predetermined quantity of material to be pumped into each container in communication with a nozzle as the containers and horizontal carriage  66  move together from the first termination point shown in  FIG. 7  through the positions shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9  and to the second termination point shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     Prior to the horizontal carriage  66  reaching the second termination point shown in  FIG. 10 , the controller closes the nozzle valves and/or —  turns off the pump/motor assembly  108  to turn off the flow of materials through the nozzles. The controller also sends a control signal to motor  60  causing it to lift the vertical carriage  52  from the position shown in  FIG. 10  to the position shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     Once the nozzles are decoupled from the containers, the controller  100  sends a signal to motor  68  causing the horizontal carriage to move back through the position shown in  FIG. 12 , toward the first termination point and “start” position shown in  FIG. 7 . This occurs in time for the lead containers ( 75  and  81 ) to be above the next containers  30  (in the two rows  32  and  34 ) that need to be filled. The process is then repeated until the necessary number of containers  30  is filled. 
     The synchronization achieved by the filler  1  permits containers to be filled at a steady and remarkable rate. This is because the controller  100  never turns the conveyor off until instructed to do so and controls the conveyor to move the containers at the predetermined desired speed. Likewise, the controller  100  synchronizes the operation of the carriage assembly to ensure the nozzles are constantly moving either up and down or side-to-side without any dwell period. The controller further operates to ensure that material is only pumped through the nozzles when the nozzles are engaged with the containers. 
       FIGS. 14 and 15  provide a comparison of the relative motion of the conveyor and nozzles of a prior art linear filling machine ( FIG. 14 ) to a filling machine embodying the claimed invention ( FIG. 15 ). In the prior art, the return time (i.e., the time for the nozzles to return from the second termination point to the first termination (or start) point) is much longer, four revolutions of the screw of the conveyor rather than one revolution. In the prior art, there is also a dwell period of about one full revolution while there is no dwell period in the embodiment incorporation in the invention. When the present invention is employed, this lengthy dwell period is eliminated and the controller ensures that, during operation, the horizontal carriage moves continuously and instantaneously (i.e., without any dwell period at either termination point) back and forth between said first termination point and said second termination point. Also, the speed at which the nozzles move up and down in the prior art is much slower than in the preferred embodiment. 
     The above-described apparatus is highly adaptable. The speed of the conveyor  3  and carriage assembly  4  may be altered to conform with the speed of equipment supplying bottles to the filler  1  or the equipment at the discharge end used to carry the filled containers to a capping machine or storage area. Likewise, a smaller or larger number of nozzles may be included in each row of nozzles. The controller is able to adapt the operation of the carriage assembly and pumping system comprising the nozzles, the valve and the pump/motor assembly accordingly. Also, a conveyor and a carriage assembly providing additional rows of bottles and nozzles may be provided in accordance with the invention to yield even greater output of filled containers. The containers are not limited to any particular size, shape or capacity. The conveyor  3 , carriage assembly  4  and controller  100  are easily adjusted to conform to the selected containers. This typically means using a conveyor  3  adapted to the particular shape of the container, adjusting the position of the nozzles on the horizontal carriage and adjusting a limited number of parameters on the controller. Further, the screw type conveyor(s) show were selected because they are able to precisely index the containers as they pass through the filling station to ensure proper spacing between the openings of the containers. The screw conveyors of the conveyor assembly may be replaces with some other type of conveyor that is also able to precisely index the containers as they pass through the filling station to ensure proper spacing between the openings of the containers. 
     Further, the controller  100  has the processing power necessary to control multiple conveyor assemblies and multiple carriage assemblies. Thus, the filling machine may be provided with multiple conveyor and carriage assemblies without deviating from the invention and to further increase the throughput of filled containers per minute. Likewise, while  FIGS. 7-12  show two rows of nozzles attached to a single horizontal carriage of a single carriage assembly, the carriage assembly may be provided with multiple horizontal carriages  66 , each carrying a row of nozzles. Multiple separate carriage assemblies may also be employed. The drawings also show the vertical carriage  52  attached to the carriage assembly support  28  of the base  2 , the horizontal carriage  66  attached to the vertical carriage  52 , and the nozzles  70 - 81  attached to the horizontal carriage  66 . Without deviating from the invention, these components may be alternatively coupled together so that the horizontal carriage  66  is attached to the carriage assembly support  28  of the base  2 , the vertical carriage  52  is attached to the horizontal carriage  66  and the nozzles  70 - 81  are attached to the vertical carriage  52 . 
     As such, the present invention is versatile, efficient and requires only limited space. 
     This invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use embodiments of the example as required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different devices and that various modifications can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.