Patent GB-961378-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to printing on articles such as plastic bottles
Inventor: BOZEK JOHN STANLEY
IPC: B41F17/18
Filed: 1962-07-16
Abstract: 961,378. Printing on curved surfaces. CONTINENTAL CAN CO. Inc. July 16, 1962, No. 11995/63. Divided out of 961,376. Heading B6C. Apparatus for printing on the arcuate surfaces of articles such as plastic bottles B comprises a rotatable carrier 23 having an even number of equally spaced stations at which first bottle supports 42 and second bottle supports 43 are alternately mounted, said supports 42 having a pair of suction heads 56 for removing the bottles from a feed shoot 22 and delivering them to a conveyer 24, a pair of endless chains 112 which form the conveyer 24 which moves the bottles past a first printing drum 20, a fixed gear or rack 242 for turning the bottle through 180 degrees, and a second printing drum 21, and means for retracting the second bottle supports 43 so as to clear the bottles supplied by the supports 42 and for projecting the supports 43 as required to receive the bottles B from the conveyer 24. Turret 23.-Each of the bottle supports 42 on the turret 23 comprises a block 45 secured to the spoke-forming members 41 by a bar 44, and a block 48 which is slidably carried in the block 45 by a dovetail projection 49. A spring 55 mounted on pins 51 and 54 in a cut-out 50 in the projection 49 normally urges the block 48 to the right, Fig. 6, although resiliently permitting leftward movement. A stop block 52 limits movement of the block 48 to the right and retains the block 48 in alignment with the block 45. Each suction head 56 is attached to the block 48 and is connected to a suction passage 58 therein which is in turn connected by a line 59 to a passage 91 in the hub 38. A passage 97 extends around a stationary block 93 over the region in which the heads 56 are intended to be actuated. Each bottle support 43 comprises a bottle holder 82 which is retained in a retracted position so that it may pass the bottles B carried by the shoot 22 by compressed air fed into a cylinder 65. An air passage 104 in a stationary block 100 extends from the region where the bottle is picked up from the conveyer 24 to the region where it is discharged on to the pick-up turret 25. The holder 82 comprises two sets of fingers 84 which may be arranged to fit bottles on various shapes. Conveyer 24.-The conveyer 24 is identical with that described in Specification 961,376 and is provided with an odd number of bottle holders 156. Each holder 156 comprises a member 188 which receives the base of the bottle B, a bottle ejector 198, and a plunger assembly 209 which is provided with an air passage 215, Fig. 8a, to enable the bottle to be inflated to stiffen the body portion 109 during printing. The plunger assembly 209 includes a piston 210 disposed within a pneumatic cylinder 203, said piston being urged to the right by a spring 213. Turret 25.-The turret 25, Fig. 1, is provided with a plurality of plungers 247 which are acted upon by a cam 248 to project them into the necks 108 of the bottles B on retraction of the plunger assembly 209 on the conveyer 24. The plungers 247 are retracted when the bottles are aligned with a discharge shoot 26. Operation.-The turrets 23 and 25, the conveyer 24 and the printing drums 20 and 21 are driven in timed relation. As the turret 23 rotates one of the supports 42 passes beneath the shoot 22 and its suction heads 56 engage the lowermost bottle B and remove it from the shoot. As the turret 23 rotates the bottle B becomes aligned with a holder 156 on the conveyer 24 and cam means 234, Fig. 8A, operate a valve so that air is introduced into the cylinder 203 and the assembly 209 is moved to the left and the end portion 212 engages the neck 108 of the bottle. Further movement to the left seats the base of the bottle in the member 188. The suction to the head 56 is then broken and the block 48 is returned to its normal position by the spring 55. The conveyer 24 moves the bottle past the printing drum 20 which prints on one side of the bottle, past a fixed rack 242 which rotates the bottle through 180 degrees, and then past the drum 21 to print on the other side of the bottle. When the printed bottle becomes aligned with a support 43 on the turret 23, the support is projected and the fingers 84 spring around the bottle, Fig. 5 (not shown). and the cylinder 203 is exhausted and the assembly 209 moved to the right. As the bottle is released by the assembly 209 the ejector 198 is actuated to move the bottle to the right. On further rotation of the turret 23, the fingers 84 are released and the support 43 retracted as the plungers 247 on the turret 25 engage the neck of the bottle. Specification 961,377 is referred to.