Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US4816110?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-03-15 12:25:53
Document Index: 582475209

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 59', 'art 59', 'art 59', 'art 59', 'arts 64', 'art 64', 'art 64', 'art 64', 'art 64']

Patent US4816110 - In-line sealer - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn in-line sealer apparatus for applying and sealing foils to the mouth of sequentially presented containers. The apparatus includes a rotatable turret having a pocket wheel containing angularly spaced pockets for accommodating containers. Each pocket has a foil transfer and sealing mechanism which is...http://www.google.com/patents/US4816110?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4816110 - In-line sealerAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS4816110 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/091,183Publication dateMar 28, 1989Filing dateAug 31, 1987Priority dateAug 31, 1987Fee statusLapsedPublication number07091183, 091183, US 4816110 A, US 4816110A, US-A-4816110, US4816110 A, US4816110AInventorsMarcel P. Belanger, Ludwik Cudnoch, Istvan FoldesiOriginal AssigneeMontreal Milling Cutter Co., Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (13), Referenced by (11), Classifications (14), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetIn-line sealerUS 4816110 AAbstract An in-line sealer apparatus for applying and sealing foils to the mouth of sequentially presented containers. The apparatus includes a rotatable turret having a pocket wheel containing angularly spaced pockets for accommodating containers. Each pocket has a foil transfer and sealing mechanism which is associated therewith and mounted on the turret arrangement for rotation therewith. Each mechanism includes a stacker unit which removably attaches to the turret and stores therein a stack of foils. Each mechanism also includes a foil transfer and applying unit which is disposed below the stacker and includes a movable foil-engaging head for removing the lowermost foil in the stack, and thereafter transferring the foil and applying it to the mouth of the container positioned within the respective pocket. When so positioned, the container moves through a heating channel, while the head presses the foil against the container mouth, to seal the foil to the mouth, following which the head is removed and the container discharged from the turret arrangement.
3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each said stacker unit is mounted on the turret means so as to be disposed above and substantially vertically aligned relative to a respective said pocket, each said disk transfer unit engaging the lowermost disk in a respective said stack for removing it from the stack and applying it to the rim of a container positioned within the respective pocket, each said disk transfer unit including first means for causing limited vertical reciprocating movement of said disk-engaging head in a substantially vertical direction, and second means for causing rotational displacement of said disk-engaging head through an angle of about 180 horizontal axis for permitting the disk removed from the stacker unit to be rotatably swung downwardly so as to be positioned over the rim of a container.
To permit the stacker unit 23 to be engaged with the locking means 51, each of the mounting plates 48 and 49 as associated with the stacker unit has a sidewardly projecting platelike part 59 (FIGS. 3 and 8) which is adapted to be slidably disposed within the tunnel-like slot 54 of the respective locking plate 52 or 53. The platelike part 59, as illustrated by FIG. 8, has a keyhole-shaped slot 61-62 which opens vertically therethrough and projects inwardly from the free edge thereof. This keyhole slot includes a circular opening 61 which is spaced inwardly from the free edge of the part 59, and this latter opening 61 opens outwardly through the free edge by means of an intermediate slot 62 which is of reduced width. To secure the part 59 within the respective locking plate 52 or 53, the locking means 51 includes a vertically elongated locking rod 63 which is rotatably supported on and extends between the upper and lower locking plates 52 and 53, respectively. This locking rod 63 has vertically spaced locking parts 64 associated therewith, which parts are positioned within the locking plates 52 and 53. This locking part 64, as illustrated by FIG. 8, has a generally rectangular configuration which is created by forming a pair of flats on opposite sides of the locking rod 63 so that the locking part 64 has a width less than the diameter of the rod 63. A handle 65 is secured to and projects radially from the upper end of the locking rod 63. With the locking rod positioned as illustrated in the drawings, the locking part 64 is disposed within the opening 61 and extends transversely relative to the slot 62 so that the stacker unit 23 is hence stationarily and positively mounted on the turret. However, by rotating the locking rod 63 90 results in the locking part 64 being radially aligned with the slot 62, whereupon the complete stacker unit 23 can be easily manually moved radially outwardly so as to disengage it from the turret.
Considering now the foil transfer unit 24, and referring to FIGS. 3-6, same includes a vertically elongated guide pin or rod 71 which projects between and is slidably supported on the turret support plates 31 and 32 in the vicinity of the outer peripheries thereof, there being one such guide pin 71 for each sealing station 21. This guide pin 71 has a holder member 72 fixedly secured thereto at a location between the upper and lower turret support plates. The holder member 72 is also slidably supported on an adjacent turret post 34. This holder member 72 mounts thereon a rotary actuator 73 which is capable of effecting rotary movement through an angle of about 180 this rotary actuator 73 includes a housing 74 which is fixedly mounted on the holder 72, which actuator housing 74 encloses a rotary actuating element such as a fluid-actuated vane or rotor (not shown), the latter being coupled to drive an actuator shaft 75 (FIG. 7) which projects outwardly from the actuator housing. This actuator shaft 75 is disposed with its axis 76 projecting horizontally in a direction which is generally radially outwardly from the turret axis.
In similar manner, a supply of pressurized air to the rotary actuator 73 is regulated to control the rotary position of the vacuum head assembly. For this purpose, a pair of air hoses or conduits 95 and 96 are coupled to the rotary actuator 73 and at their opposite ends are connected to a suitable control valve 97 (such as a 4-way valve) which is also mounted on the lower turret support plate 33. An air supply base 105 connects between the valve 97 and an air supply port formed in the turret hub, which port connects to a source (not shown) of pressurized air. Control valve 97 is conventional and includes a vertically movable actuator or follower 98 which is maintained in engagement with a stationary ring cam 99 secured to the housing in concentric relationship to the axis 19. The vertical displacement of follower 98, as caused by the ring cam 99 in response to rotation of the turret, causes the valve 97 to supply pressurized air to one or the other of the hoses 95 and 96, with the other hose then functioning as an exhaust, to effect rotary displacement of the actuator vane and of its shaft 75 in one direction through an angle of 180 When the follower 98 of valve 97 moves into its other vertical location as controlled by the cam 99, then the functioning of the hoses 95 and 96 is reversed so that pressurized air is then supplied through the other hose, and hence the rotary actuator is reversely rotated through 180 is maintained in this position until the supply of pressurized air to the actuator is again reversed.
As noted above, the guide arrangement 15 extends circumferentially around the turret arrangement in the direction of rotation from the supply device 12 to the discharge device 14, which angular extent is normally at least somewhat in excess of 180 elongate arcuate guide plate 121 (FIGS. 1 and 6) which is fixedly mounted relative to the housing and is positioned radially outwardly from the pocket wheel 36 but within substantially the same horizontal plane. This guide plate 121 has an inner guide surface 122 which is generated on a radius about the central axis 19. The spacing between the guide surface 122 and the outer periphery of the pocket wheel 36 is significantly less than the diameter of the containers 13, but this guide surface 122 is spaced from the radially innermost point of the pockets 37 by a distance which only slightly exceeds the outer diameter of the container 13 so that the container 13 is held within the respective pocket 37 and is closely slidably guided along the guide surface 122 during movement of the turret apparatus. This guide plate 121 and the pocket wheel 36 are preferably constructed of a nonmetallic material, such as a resin or other suitable hard plastic or hard rubberlike material so as to prevent marring or damaging the containers. This material should also preferably have a relatively low coefficient of friction to facilitate the movement of the containers. The containers, during their movement along the guide arrangement 15, slide along a smooth top surface 123 defined on the housing.
The guide arrangement 15 also has the heating channel 16 extending therealong over a substantial arcuate extent. This heating channel 16 includes radially inner and outer arcuate support rails 131 and 132 (FIG. 6) which are stationarily supported relative to the housing but are disposed in upwardly spaced relationship relative to the guide plate 121 and pocket wheel 36. These support rails have radii generated substantially about the axis 19. Induction heating elements 133 are secured to and extend longitudinally along the opposed inner surfaces of the support rails 131 and 132, which heating elements 133 are radially spaced apart by a distance which preferably just slightly exceeds the diameter of the container 13. Heating elements 133 are spaced upwardly from the container support surface 123 so as to be disposed closely adjacent the elevation of the container mouth. These support rails 131, 132 and their heating elements 133 hence define a heating channel which extends arcuately around the turret from a location just downstream of the supply device 12, to a location upstream of the discharge device 14. This heating channel preferably extends arcuately around the turret through an angle of at least about 90 dependence on the overall geometrical configuration of the apparatus, the rotational speed of the turret, and the desired heating level.
For purposes of the following description, the discharge point for the containers will be designated as the 0 being indicated as such by the dash-double dot radial line in FIG. 1. When in this 0 its uppermost position, being held upwardly by the cam 102 against the urging of the spring 103. While the transfer unit is maintained vertically in its uppermost position, nevertheless the vacuum head assembly 77 is, at this time, rotated downwardly into its lowermost position, whereby the transfer unit is hence disposed substantially as illustrated by FIG. 3. At this 0
As the turret arrangement rotatably moves away from the 0 (that is, away from the container discharge point) toward the container receiving point (that is, toward the supply device 12), the cam ring 102 permits the complete transfer unit 24 to move downwardly to its lowermost position due to the urging of the spring 103 (this lowermost position being indicated substantially by dotted lines in FIG. 3). When reaching this lowermost position, pressurized air is supplied to the rotary actuator 73 which effects rotation of the vacuum head assembly 77 through an angle of 180 82 faces upwardly. When in this upper position, however, the end face 84 of the vacuum head 82 is still spaced downwardly a slight distance below the lowermost foil in the respective stack 45. However, substantially when the head member 82 reaches its upwardly facing position, then the cam 102 again drives the transfer unit 24 upwardly into its uppermost position, thus causing the vacuum end face 84 to be moved upwardly into engagement with the lowermost foil in the stack 45. The spring 69 surrounding the head rod 79 enables some slight compression so that the vacuum end face will snugly engage the lowermost foil in the stack and this, coupled with the engagement of the elastomeric ring 86 with the lowermost foil, permits secure engagement with the lowermost foil. When the head member is engaged with the lowermost foil substantially as illustrated by FIG. 5, then the cam 94 actuates the control valve 92 so that vacuum is now created in the chamber 83, which vacuum is sufficient to attach the lowermost foil in the stack to the end face 84 of the head member.
The cam 102 then permits the transfer unit 24 to move downwardly into its lower position so that the lower foil is removed from the stack, and substantially simultaneously therewith the cam 99 switches the control valve 97 to supply pressure to the other side of the rotary actuator 73, whereby the actuator shaft 75 and the vacuum head assembly 77 are then reversely rotated 180 attached thereto now face downwardly so as to be positioned substantially as illustrated by FIG. 6 (although this sealing station 21 has not yet moved into engagement with the container or the heating channel). The vacuum is still maintained in the chamber 83 so as to hold the foil attached to the head member. Shortly thereafter, the ring cam 102 again lifts the transfer unit 24 upwardly into its uppermost position, although the vacuum head member still faces downwardly, thus positioning the vacuum head unit at an elevation so as to permit a container 13 to be moved into position thereunder. All of these prior movements have taken place as the turret rotates continuously away from the 0 prior to reaching the supply device 12. In fact, all of these prior movements occur during less than about 90 as indicated by FIG. 9.
As the sealing station 21 approaches the downstream bridge portion 135 of the heating channel, the cam 102 again lifts the transfer unit 24 upwardly into its uppermost position, thereby disengaging the vacuum head from the container while leaving the foil sealingly attached to the container mouth. This upward lifting of the transfer unit not only disengages it from the container, but also enables it to be raised so as to vertically clear or pass over the downstream bridge portion 135 during continued rotation of the turret arrangement. The rotation of the turret arrangement continues, and the transfer unit remains in this lattermentioned position until reaching the 0 container with the sealed foil thereon is discharged by the device 14, and the entire cycle is then repeated.
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