Patent GB-809591-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to article feeding mechanisms
Inventor: BREEBACK RUDOLPH HENRY
IPC: B65B35/54
Filed: 1955-05-26
Abstract: 809,591. Conveyers for bottles and like articles. CROWN CORK & SEAL CO. Inc. May 26. 1955, No. 15266/55. Class 78 (1). [Also in Group XVII] Apparatus for conveying bottles and like articles to or from a filling-machine includes the arrangement of a plurality of first conveyers, a lesser number of second conveyers, each of the conveyers including a feed-screw for spacing the articles thereon, and means for transferring articles in a predetermined sequence either from the first conveyers to the second conveyers or vice versa. As shown, there are provided two first endless conveyers 10, 11, supplying bottles and one second endless conveyer 13 supplying a filling-machine. Driven feed-screws 22, 23 and 40 are associated with the respective conveyers for controlling the bottle spacings on them. Conveyers 10, 11 are driven at about three-quarters the speed of conveyer 13 so that bottles pile up at the entrance to the screws 22, 23 which have a groove of increasing pitch to space the bottles. The screws 22, 23 are driven such that the bottles leave them at a speed just under the speed of conveyer 13 so as to be picked up by star wheels 20, 21 whose peripheral speed is synchronized with the speed of conveyer 13, these star wheels co-operating with guide plates 34. The wheels 20, 21 are rotated out of phase with one another so that they supply bottles alternately from each of the conveyers 10, 11 to the conveyer 13 via two star wheels 30, 31 co-operating with a guide plate 35 and driven at the same speed as wheels 20, 21 but having twice as many recesses for the bottles, so that the recesses register with one another at a position C3 on conveyer 13 just in advance of the feed-screw 40. The screw 40 has a groove of constant pitch to maintain the bottle spacing until the bottles reach a star wheel 14 which transfers them to the platforms 15 of a rotary filling table 16. Each of the star wheels 20, 21, 30, 31 comprises a pair of discs, one engaging near the tops, and one near the bases, of the bottles. The entry end of screw 40 is disposed between the two discs of wheel 31 and is there journalled in a bearing supported by a transverse rod 50 which is adjustably secured in a bracket 51 in the framework to enable adjustment for different sizes of bottles to be made. The other end journal of screw 40 and each end of each of the screws 22, 23 are also adjustable. The screw 40 cooperates with a fixed guide 41, whilst each of the screws 22, 23 co-operates with a guide 24 pivoted at 25 and operatively connected to a switch so that if a bottle becomes jammed the guide 24 pivots outwards and thereby operates the switch to switch off the drive to either that screw alone or to the entire system. As the bottles are transferred by the wheel 14 to the platforms 15 they pass between a plate 70 engaging the sides of the bottles and a guide rail 72 engaging the necks of the bottles and extending alongside the filling table as described in the Divided Specification 809,592, [Group XVII]. The various drives may be reversed so as to feed bottles from the filling table to the conveyers 10, 11 in which case the latter are driven at half the speed of conveyer 13 and in order to distribute the bottles equally between conveyers 10 and 11 a deflector D is pivoted at 70<SP>1</SP> to the guide plate 35 so that it is reversed by the passage of each bottle through shoulders 72<SP>1</SP>,73<SP>1</SP> projecting into the paths of the bottles. The deflector D may alternatively be actuated by a pair of solenoids operated alternately by pulses of current supplied by a timing cam. Instead of a deflector each wheel 30, 31 may have associated with it a pusher actuated by a cam on the wheel to push the bottles alternately one way and the other as they pass beyond the point C3. The filling table 16 may comprise an odd or even number of platforms 15, the former being preferred when bottles are being filled with beer since when the bottles are being supplied to the table from only one of the conveyers 10 and 11 every platform and associated filling head on the table is still in use. In a modification, Fig. 5, only two star wheels 191 and 192 are provided which co-operate with a guide plate 190 to transfer bottles from conveyers 180 and 181 to conveyer 193, or vice versa, in which case the former conveyers are driven at exactly half the speed of the latter, and feed screws 188, 189 having a groove of constant pitch are placed closely adjacent the wheels 191, 192. As in the previous embodiment a pivoted deflector (not shown) is mounted on the guide plate 190 when the drives are to be reversed for transferring bottles from conveyer 193 to the conveyers 180 and 181.