Abstract:
An alignment apparatus for use in packaging. The device generally uses a guide plate, dome shaped member through which a stream of air flows, and guide bar to reject improperly packaging elements. This apparatus provides an easy way to ensure properly oriented and aligned packaging elements during the automated packaging processes, thereby reducing wasteful and costly errors due to incorrectly aligned packaging elements.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     I. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates generally to packaging equipment and more particularly to a device used to reject improperly oriented packaging elements such as bottle caps during the packaging process.  
         [0003]     II. Discussion of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Plastic bottles are an increasingly important form of packaging in the world today. The durability and convenience they provide is recognized by persons in virtually all segments of society. Many of these plastic bottles are sealed with plastic, screw on caps to preserve the contents stored within the bottle&#39;s confines. Products making use of plastic bottle caps are numerous and are not limited to any specific type of goods. Commonly these caps seal bottles used to package various types of beverages including soft drinks and water, and a wide range of other liquids and substances.  
         [0005]     Due to the high demand for these products, plastic bottling plants manufacture billions of capped plastic bottles every year. To meet such demand, bottling plants must use efficient, highly automated processes and machines which enable a uniform flow of materials during production. One area which has proven to be problematic to these machines is the tendency of plastic bottle caps to flip or become incorrectly orientated during the manufacturing process. It is desired that when these bottle caps are fed into the mechanism performing bottle sealing, the caps are aligned such that they lay on their closed circular portion with the open end located above it.  
         [0006]     Because of the relative ease by which these caps become misaligned during the manufacturing process, failure to correct the misalignment frequently results in bottle caps being fed upside-down into the capping machine and incorrect capping taking place. The resulting flawed products cause disruptions in the bottling process and a considerable amount of wasted time and materials. Devices attempting to solve this problem have generally been complicated apparatuses which reject incorrectly orientated caps and allow properly aligned caps to fit within a series of grooved components. These apparatuses have many parts, use a complex mechanism, and are not always successful in accomplishing a relatively simple job. Therefore what is needed is a simplified and more efficient manner in which to align and orient bottle caps in the manufacturing process.  
         [0007]     The problems outlined above are not limited to bottles and bottle caps. Many other forms of packaging are sealed using other types of sealing members, many of which have cupped or recessed portions like the sealing members used to cap bottles.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention provides an apparatus that can be used in the production of packaged items. More specifically, the apparatus of the present invention is intended to correctly orient sealing members for packaging before they are fed into a machine for attachment to a package. The apparatus itself is generally made up of a guide plate, a guide bar, and a dome-shaped member projecting from the top of the guide plate having a port through which a stream of air flows.  
         [0009]     To meet the disclosure requirements of the patent laws, the present invention will be described in connection with the way it is used to ensure proper orientation of bottle caps as they are delivered to a capping machine. This disclosure is not intended to be limiting. The present invention can be used to ensure proper orientation of other sealing members or packaging elements and particularly packaging elements (including sealing members) that have a cupped or recessed area.  
         [0010]     When the present invention is used to ensure proper orientation of bottle caps, the bottle caps are fed across a sloped guide plate along the guide bar. As they are fed, each cap is partially pushed over the dome-shaped member. That member contains an orifice on its face, out of which an air port directs a stream of air in a direction away from the guide bar. If the cap is oriented open side up, the cap will position itself such that it will largely be unexposed to the air stream and will simply pass over one side of the dome-shaped housing and continue on to the next bottling machine. If the cap is oriented open side down, then the cap&#39;s inside surface will be subjected to the air stream shooting out the air port. This stream of air will divert the cap into a reject bin, thereby removing improperly aligned caps so they are not fed into the capping machine. The result is a reliable stream of correctly oriented plastic caps provided within the bottling process using a simple apparatus with few or no moving parts. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing that the present invention provides an easy mechanism for aligning bottle caps.  
         [0011]     These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art through a review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the claims and accompanying drawings in which like numerals in several views refer to the same corresponding parts. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a top view of the alignment apparatus of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the alignment apparatus of the present invention and includes a diagram of a open-side-up bottle cap&#39;s path across the apparatus;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the alignment apparatus of the present invention and includes a diagram of a open-side-down bottle cap&#39;s path across the apparatus;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the alignment apparatus;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the alignment apparatus which further shows the position of an open-side-up cap passing over the housing; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the alignment apparatus which further shows the position of an open-side-down cap passing over the housing. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     The present invention represents broadly applicable improvements related to packaging mechanisms. As set forth above in the summary of the invention, the embodiments and uses herein described are intended to be taken as representative of those in which the invention may be incorporated and are not intended to be limiting.  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a top view of the alignment apparatus  10 . It is generally is made up of a guide plate  12 , a guide bar  14 , a dome shaped member  16  projecting from the top of the housing, and a port  18 . The dome shaped member  16  is coupled to a supply of pressurized air such that an air stream exits the port  18 . The top surface of guide plate  12  is a flat planar member across which bottle caps can be easily slid from edge  20  to edge  22 . Guide plate  12  is shown to be a primarily rectangular shape, however it does have two parallel rectangular slots  24  and  26  in which the fasteners  36  to guide bar  14  reside. Also, there is a curved edge  28  of the guide plate which is shaped in a concave fashion. This curved edge  28  protrudes inward toward the port  18 , allowing for more efficient rejection of misaligned caps. Guide plate  12  also contains a circular opening  30  through which dome shaped member  16  protrudes. This hole is somewhat centrally located between edges  20  and  22  and is close in proximity to curved edge  28 .  
         [0020]     Dome shaped member  16  is hollow with a generally hemispherical outer surface. Those skilled in the art will recognize this dome shaped member may also be arced or any other shaped protrusion appropriate for a similar mechanisms and apparatus. Passing through the outer surface and in communication with the hollow interior is a single opening referred to as port  18 . When the dome shaped member  16  is coupled to a source of air, port  18  provides a generally horizontal air stream. The port  18  is positioned so that it directs this air stream at the center of curved edge  18  of the guide plate  12 .  
         [0021]     Guide bar  14  is seen in  FIG. 1  to extend across the horizontal slots  24  and  26  of guide plate  12  in a perpendicular fashion. Guide bar  14  may be moved to various other positions along the slots  24  and  26  as the guide bar  14  is releasably attached within these slots. When setting up the alignment apparatus the guide bar  14  is moved until it is located in the proper configuration for the packaging element of a given dimension. In this way, the packaging elements of many shapes and sizes can make use of the alignment apparatus by simply altering the location of the guide plate  12 .  
         [0022]     Shown in  FIG. 2  is a top view of the present invention including arrows generally indicating the path of a properly oriented packaging element such as a bottle cap  32 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , bottle cap  32  generally traverses across the guide plate  12  by moving along guide bar  14  and over the dome shaped member  16  as the cap travels from edge  20  toward edge  22 . See also  FIG. 5 .  
         [0023]     Shown in  FIG. 3  is a top view similar to  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 3 , the arrows show the path of a cap that is not properly oriented. A cap that has the closed side up will drop once the dome shaped member enters the path of the air stream exiting port  18 . See  FIG. 6 . The air stream will then engage the cap, moving it to a reject bin.  
         [0024]     Disclosed in  FIG. 4  is a side view of the alignment apparatus. Not only can the guide plate  12 , guide bar  14 , dome shaped member  16 , and port  18  be seen, but a side view of the container  34  and fasteners  36  are disclosed as well. Here, the guide plate  12  is configured in a sloping disposition to aid in the movement of packaging elements and to help prevent correctly aligned packaging elements from being exposed to the air jet from port  18 . There are at least two fasteners  36 , one underneath each rectangular slot  24  and  26 , in the form of bolts or other locking mechanisms which serve to hold the guide bar  14  in place. These fasteners are readily interchangeable, so as to accommodate various sizes of caps in need of proper alignment. Container  34  is a unit providing air pressure that may be expelled under considerable pressure through port  18 . Container  34  can house an air compressor or other device and can take on the shape most appropriate for that means of producing an acceptable air supply.  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  sets forth a side view of the alignment apparatus setup to ensure proper alignment of a particular style bottle cap.  FIG. 5  shows the approximate cap location for an open-side-up cap as it passes over dome shaped member  16 . Because of the configuration of the alignment assembly, the bottle cap&#39;s round flat surface only contacts the member  16  on a small portion of the side of the dome&#39;s surface. The bottle cap  32  is generally pushed against the guide plate  12  and guide bar  14  without any interference from the jet of air exiting the air port  18 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 6  sets forth a side view of the alignment apparatus with the approximate cap location for an open-side-down cap as it passes over dome shaped member  16 . Because of the configuration of the alignment assembly, the bottle cap drops over member  16  and is exposed to the air flow from air port  18 . The cap will not remain in the described position for more than an instant, and will quickly be shot in the direction of the curved edge  28  of the plate.  
         [0027]     The operation of the alignment apparatus is as follows. First, manufactured bottle caps  32 , alternatively, (or some other packaging element) are pushed across the surface of the sloped guide plate  12  from edge  20  toward edge  22  such that the side of the bottle cap  32  is partially resting against the guide bar  14 . As the bottle cap  32  moves across the guide plate  12 , it encounters the dome shaped member  16  near the midpoint of the plate. If the bottle cap  32  has its flat round surface facing down, as desired, the bottle cap  32  will simply slide over the rounded edge of the housing  16  and continue along a straight path. See  FIG. 5 .  
         [0028]     If, however, the bottle cap  32  slides across the surface of guide plate  12  with the open circular end of the bottle cap against the plate&#39;s surface, the bottle cap  32  will drop over the member  16 . See  FIG. 6 . The bottle cap&#39;s open end will cover the member  16  with its outer wall and flat top surface. This exposes the bottle cap&#39;s inner wall to the air jet exiting port  18 . The force of the air jet on the bottle cap&#39;s inner wall causes the cap to be shot out of the line of bottle caps being pushed across the guide plate  12 . The bottle caps shot out of line, often flip, and are sent over curved edge  28  into a reject bin. Alternatively, a rotating bowl could be used to automatically direct rejected, and ideally flipped bottle caps, back to the location where the bottle cap had previously been pushed onto the guide plate  12 . In this way, the mechanism of the present invention ensures only bottle caps which are orientated with the open side up will be allowed to continue through the manufacturing process, and waste from incorrect bottling will be reduced.  
         [0029]     This invention has been defined 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 such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment details and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself. Likewise, the invention can be used in connection with a variety of packaging elements and is not limited to use in conjunction with bottle caps or even sealing members.