Patent GB-219354-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in a sundae cup forming machine
Filed: 1923-03-12
Abstract: 219,354. Rogers, F. H., (Vortex Mfg. Co.). March 12, 1923. Paper bags and the like, making.-In a machine for forming conical paper cups or dishes by folding or curling blanks, mechanism is provided for automatically and positively transferring the finished cups from the forming mechanism into a stacking mechanism by a pushing action, and the stacking mechanism comprises a cup holder which is lowered and rotated as cups are delivered thereto so that the cups are nested one within the other with the folded portions in staggered relation. A number of machines are driven through clutches from a single driving shaft so that any unit may be started or stopped at will, the various mechanisms in each machine being operated from a continuously rotating cam shaft 8, Figs. 1 and 2, and an intermittently rotating shaft 21 driven by a Geneva gear 15, 17. Blank-feeding means. The circular blanks are supported in a magazine 50, Figs. 22 and 24, on a pin 52 and are fed to rollers 53, 54 by a pad 48 on a feed reel 46 driven from a shaft 28 geared to the shaft 8 through a hand-operated clutch 35, the feed reel 46 being also driven through a handoperated clutch 42 - - 45 so that the blank-feeding means may be stopped from either the front or back of the machine. The rollers 53, 54 are driven from the shaft 28 and feed the blank on to a table 49 where it is engaged by pusher-arms 71 actuated from a cam on the feed-reel shaft to swing upwards through slots 72 in the table and push the blank against stops 74; at the same time pins 100, on arms 97, Fig. 11 working in slots 98 in the table and actuated from a cam on the shaft 8, also engage the blank and centre it in the field of operation, and between the grippers, of the forming-mechanism. Cup-forming mechanism. The grippers of the forming mechanism comprise a pair of triangular plates 81, Fig. 13, pivoted on a pin 79 in a shaft 78 geared to the shaft 21 and normally pressed together to grip a blank by a spring 82 but opened to receive a blank when a semiconical forming member 83 is elevated; the member 83 is carried by arms 84 actuated from the shaft 8 and pivoted to the bearings of the shaft 78, the members 83 carrying a Z-bracket 86, one arm of which engages the upper gripper plate and the other engaging a stem 89 projecting from an arm 90 ; a spring 93 is arranged between the arm of the bracket and the arm 90. The member 83 is elevated against the action of the spring 93 and, when the blank is positioned between the plates 81, is gradually lowered so that the blank is gripped between the plates, the Geneva gear then rotates the shaft 78 and gripping plates through half a revolution, a part of the blank upon each side of the plates being drawn under the member 83 and folded about the plates so that the blank assumes a conical form. The member 83 is then raised to separate the gripper plates, while an arched arm 146, slidable in a slot 141 in the table, is advanced a short distance from its innermost position to engage inside the formed cup and advance it a slight distance away from the member 83 and plates 81, the folded edge being clamped by the member 83 acting in conjunction with a presser arm 126 and the edge of the table 49. Transferring mechanism. The arm 146, then moves to its outermost position. Fig. 12, a crossbar 148 on the end of the arm centring the cup against a stop spring 236 and over the stacking mechanism; a fork 150 on the arm forms a guide for a reciprocating pusher rod 151 by which the cup 166 is positively forced through an opening 168 in the table 49 and between resilient retaining members 175 into the cup holder of the stacking mechanism. Stacking mechanism. The retaining members 175 are carried by a sleeve 171, Fig. 7, rotatably supported in the opening 168, and geared to a vertical shaft 184 and the conical cup holder 204 is rotatably supported in a carriage 205 provided with spring-pressed half-nuts normally engaging a feed screw 195 rotated by gearing from the vertical shaft 184. The carriage is moved up to the sleeve by disengaging the half-nuts from the screw 193, and, as the cups are delivered to the cup holder, the latter is lowered a predetermined amount and rotated so that the folded portions of the cups are staggered, the members 175 pressing the stack against the cup holder. The stacked cups are held in alignment by stationary guide bars 179 and a swing guide bar 182 which may be swung outwards when the stack has reached the desired height, to permit the stack to be removed.