Patent GB-746158-A (GB)
Title: Container filling machine
IPC: B65B3/32
Filed: 1954-09-06
Abstract: 746,158. Reciprocating pumps. ANDERSON, R. F. Sept. 6, 1954 [Sept. 4, 1953], No 25855/54. Class 102(1). [Also in Groups XVII and XXIX] Relates to machines in which ice-cream &c. under pressure forces up a piston within a measuring chamber and then the piston is lowered to force the measured quantity into a container through a valve arrangement, the arrival of the piston at the top of its stroke actuating means which operates the machine for one cycle only. According to the invention, if no container is present, the cycle is still performed but the valve arrangement is actuated to divert the ice-cream to a by-pass. General description. A conveyer 16 which is intermittently operated advances from left to right, Fig. 1, through five stations. At the first station a support 55 is raised to extract a container from a stack 17 and lowered again. The second station is a blind one, the movement of the container being limited by a stop 47. At the third station, the movement of the container is limited by a stop 48 and it is raised by a support 56 to actuate a detector arm 181 which causes a measured quantity of ice-cream to be supplied from the measuring chamber 67. If no container is present, arm 181 is not raised and the ice-cream is forced through a by-pass. At the fourth station, the movement of the container is limited by a stop 49 and it receives a measured quantity of syrup from a device 18. Device 18 is not actuated if a container is absent from the third station. At the fifth station, the movement of the container is limited by a stop 50 and is raised by a support 57 to receive a closure from an applying device 19. Stops 47 ... 50 are carried on a plate 52 mounted on a bracket 53 which is moved by cams 54 on shaft 51 to bring the stops into operative position during each cycle at the appropriate time. Cams 58, 59, 60 on shaft 51 raise the supports 55, 56, 57 at appropriate times, and shaft 51 and conveyer 16 are actuated once in each cycle by the main motor (see below). The container supporting and conveying means and the container stack 17 are carried as a unit on vertical shafts 31, 32 which can be raised or lowered in the base 24 of the machine by turning a handle 41 to accommodate different container heights. Shafts 31, 32 have screwed parts 34, 35 working in threaded bosses 33 and are coupled by a chain 39, Fig. 2, driven by a worm drive 40, 43 from handle 41. Ice-cream dispenser. (Fig. 10). Ice-cream under pressure flows through a connection 81, a port 82, a groove 79 in valve member 75 and a port 83 into the measuring chamber 67 to force up a piston 106 to the position shown. When the piston rod 107 hits a projection 145 a cycle is initiated and an arm 108 is lowered to depress the piston. If a container is present, valve member 75 is rotated and the cream is discharged through port 83, groove 79 and port 85 into the container. If a container is not present, valve member 75 is not rotated but a second valve member 76 which is hollow and has a port 95 is rotated. Cream is then discharged to a by-pass through port 83, groove 79, ports 84, 95 and the hollow valve member 76. The head 103 of the chamber 67 and the chamber itself are detachably connected to their supporting posts by circumferential clamping bands 104, 102 for easy cleaning and for replacing the chamber and piston by a unit of different volume to vary the discharge. A removable plate 92, Fig. 1, closes the front of the bores containing the valve members so that they can be slid out for cleaning. Syrup dispenser. (Fig. 8). The bottom of a syrup hopper 192 is closed by a block 191 containing a rotatable valve member 196 which is readily removable and a piston 204 carried on a rod 222 and working in a cylinder 193. When the piston is raised, syrup is drawn from the hopper into the cylinder 193 through passages 199, 198 and ports 201, 202 and 194. When the piston is lowered and the valve member rotated, syrup is discharged from the cylinder into the container through ports 194, 201, 203 and 197. Driving mechanism. (Figs. 2 and 3). The whole machine is driven by a continuously running motor 129 which drives through a belt 132 a single revolution clutch 135 thrown in by a solenoid every time the piston rod of the cream dispenser hits the projection 145. The output of the clutch is a cam shaft 128. A cam 127 has a follower 126 carried on a slider 123 to which is coupled a link 119 actuating a lever 115 pivoted at 153 to a fixed frame member. The other end of the lever is pivoted to a slider 112 carrying the operating arm 108 of the cream dispenser. To vary the stroke of the dispenser the point of junction of the link 119 and lever 115 can be varied by turning a screwed rod 154 .by a handle 162, Fig. 1. A further cam 254 operates the closure applying mechanism 19. Bevel gears 255 on shaft 128 operate the container supports, the container stops and the conveyer 16. A further cam 179 reciprocates a slider 173 to a bracket 175 on which is pivoted a bar 174. This bar engages either of recesses 176, 177 in rack bars 171, 172 depending on whether or not a container is present. The detector arm 181 acts to pivot a cam plate 185 which moves bar 174 into engagement with recess 176 if a container is present. Rack bars 171, 172 drive pinions 163, 164 respectively connected to the valve members 75, 76. Pinion 163 also drives a rack bar 212 having a second rack rotating a pinion 205 connected to the syrup valve member 196. Thus the syrup valve only opens if a container is present under the cream dispenser. The rod 222 operating the piston of the syrup dispenser is driven from the reciprocated slider 123 by means not shown. To vary the speed of rotation of cam shaft 128 and hence the speed of the cycle, the motor 129 can be slid vertically by turning a handwheel 246.