Patent GB-190124219-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Apparatus for Filling and Closing Bottles with Aerated or other Liquids.
Inventor: MOORE ELBERT KIRK
Filed: 1901-11-28
Granted: 1902-02-13
Abstract: 24,219. Moore, E. K. Nov. 28. Bottling; stoppering; capsuling bottles.-Relates to machines of the character described in Specifications No. 7877, A.D. 1892, and No. 22,264, A.D. 1899, for filling bottles with aÙrated or other liquid, and closing them with "crowns" or caps, while the mouth of the bottle is inserted in the head of the machine. Fig. 1 shows the present invention as applied to a machine operated by band or foot power. The bottle is placed on the rest 38, and is raised by the operation of the treadle 47 to the filling and sealing head 3. The rod 39 of the bottle-rest is adjustably secured by a split cone 42 and screw cap 43, Fig. 19, in the block 40 on the slide 41 operated by the treadle. The filling-head is fitted with an elastic gasket, against which the mouth of the bottle is pressed while the bottle is being filled. Prior to the bottle being raised, the gasket is compressed by raising the sliding collar 5, 4, so as to cause the gasket to form a tight joint with the bottle mouth. The movement of the collar is effected by a partial rotation of the collar 12, which is provided with rollers engaging beneath with a track on the head 3 and above with cams on the part 4 of the collar. The collar 12 is provided with an operating-lever 16. The liquidsupply valve 20 is opened by the arm 24 on the lever 23 when the lever is moved downwards, the snift valve 26 being opened by a second arm 24 on the upward movement of the same lever. If desired, a vacuum valve connected to a suction pump and operated by a lever 27 may be provided for exhausting the air from the bottle before the latter is filled. The sealing-cap or "crown" is inserted in the head by hand, before the gasket is compressed, and is retained by spring catches. When the bottle is filled, the treadle 47 is further depressed, so as to force the neck of the bottle through the gasket, and then to cause it to carry the cap upwards, against the action of a spring- controlled plunger, through a sealing-ring or throat, which fixes the cap on the bottle. The bottle is released from the head by a reverse movement of the collar 12. When the machine is driven by power, the movements of the bottle-rest, the collar 12, and the supply and snift valves are all effected by cams on a cam-wheel driven from the main driving-shaft. The bottle-rest 88, Fig. 14, is operated by its cam through a rocking-shaft linked to the adjustable nut 85 on the cylinder 58. The rest is supported by a spring 89 on the plunger 90, controlled by the spring 96 interposed between it and the cylinder 98, the cylinder being in turn supported by the catches 99, which normally rest on the bevelled edge of the cylinder 95 and on the head 94 of a rod 93 connected to the plunger 90. In case of excessive pressure on the bottle, the plunger 90 is depressed, and lowers the rod 93, the head 94 of which then releases the catches 99, so that the latter can also move downwards into the cylinder 95, to relieve the pressure and so prevent fracture of the bottle. The spring 100 returns the parts to the normal position. The sealing-caps 69, Fig. 15, are fed mechanically from the magazine 70, into the throat ring 73 of the filling-head, by means of the slide 71, 71<a>, which is operated, through the link 75 and lever 74 pivoted at 76, by the crank-pin 77 on the end of the cam-wheel shaft working in the cam slot 80 in the lever. On one forward movement, the slide 71 moves a cap from the magazine along the rest 83 on to the spring- controlled part 71<a> of the slide, which, on the next similar movement, moves the cap into the throat. The operative end of the part 71<a> carries a spring- controlled tongue 71<f> for holding the cap in position, and is also tapered and made of elastic material to fit and seal the throat aperture while the bottle is being filled &c., the slide being locked in this position by the latch 81 on the lever 74 engaging a stud 82 on the frame, until the latch is released by the crank-pin 77. In a modification, the caps are contained in a hopper, from which they pass through a chute so as to enter the feed-slide horizontally.