Patent GB-1079120-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to methods and apparatus for securing closure  caps to containers
IPC: B67B3/14
Filed: 1965-12-09
Abstract: 1,079,120. Capping bottles &c. AMERICAN FLANGE & MANUFACTURING CO. Inc. Dec. 9, 1965 [Dec. 24, 1964; July 22, 1965], No. 52308/65. Heading B8T. A machine for capping bottles &c. comprises a cap-forming head (7), Fig. 1 (not shown), moved downwards by a servo (3) and a telescopic spring rod (1) to engage a flanged cap 41, Fig. 2, lying on a beaded bottle neck 45, a shaped head 25 first engaging the cap, continued downward movement of the telescopic rod 1 sliding it downwards against the bias of a spring 18 relatively to a rod 15 fast with the head 25. A number of anvil jaws 30 are accordingly pivoted inwards about a ring-shaped rib 27 on the head, by camming interaction with a frusto-conical surface 38, thus engaging anvil members 80 with the lower edge of the cap 41 to crimp it on to the bottle neck. The anvil members 80 &c. form a ring. Before closing on the cap 41, inclined side surfaces (66, 89), Fig. 7 (not shown), on adjacent pairs of anvils (60, 80), overlap on lines (67, 87), Fig. 5d (not shown). When crimping has been completed, the anvils (60, 80) abut each other to form a solid ring. The anvil jaws 30, Fig. 2, are contained within segments 35 connected by circumferential springs 31 &c., to obtain resilient biasing of the jaws. In a modification, a capengaging shaped head (124), Figs. 11, 12 (not shown), is telescoped against the bias of a spring (125) into its supporting cylinder (120) as its mounting telescopic spring rod (100) descends. When the head (124) has engaged the cap (41), continued descent of the telescopic rod (100) pivots anvil jaws (128) inwards so that anvils (60a, 80a) crimp the lower edge of the cap beneath the beaded bottle neck. The anvils (60a, 80a) are secured to the jaws (128) by screws and by resilient washers (60c), which permit limited movement of the anvils on the jaws, to compensate for irregularities of the bottle necks. A centring ring (134) surrounding the shaped head (124) brushes-down the projecting tear strip (48) of the cap (41). A ring (139) with resilient fingers (140) biases radially inwards segmental members (130) formed with inner camming surfaces (133) which slide over the jaws (128), to turn them inwards as the telescopic spring rod (100) descends to its final position; the resilient fingers (140) permit movement of the anvils compensating for irregularities of the bottle neck. A resilient washer (137) biases the jaws (128) radially apart to contact the segments (130). As before, the anvils (60a, 80a) have inclined side surfaces which overlap; additionally, a small upper section (70b), Fig. 6a (not shown), of each anvil is of slightly flattened cross-section, to facilitate shaping of the crimped capsule rim. Bottle feeds; cap feed mechanism.-Filled bottles 40, Fig. 9 (not shown), are fed into a star-wheel (A) rotating anti-clockwise. Caps (41), Fig. 10 (not shown), slide down a shoot (C) with their tear-off tails (48) rearmost. Two inwardly projecting spring pins (93) at each side of the shoot (C) engage each cap (41) in turn, together with a weighted pivoted latch (94), so that the forward edge of each cap drops down into the path of the advancing neck (45) of the next bottle (40). Each cap (41) is thus pulled out of the shoot and falls on to a bottle neck (45). At the same time, each bottle (40) is engaged by another star wheel (E), rotating clockwise, and advanced under a guide plate (95) which holds the cap (41) on the bottles. Cap-fitting heads, telescopic rods (100) &c., as described above, rotate in a crowner head (G) above the clockwise rotating star wheel (E). The cap-fitting heads each descend in turn on to a bottle located below, and crimp each cap (41) on to its bottle. Caps.-The capsuling machine is shown as applying light metal caps (41) each have a projecting finger grip (48), Fig. 1 (not shown), with two tear lines extending substantially across the disc-shaped top (47) of the cap; a resilient washer extends round the inside of each capsule. Alternatively, the machine may be used to apply crown caps &c.,