Improvements in Bottle Wiring Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 24th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 27th Oct.,
1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle Wiring Machines.
I, WILLIAM HEATON KELLETT of Honoria Street Fartown, Huddersfield
Yorkshire, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention refers to machines for wiring bottles to secure the corks therein
and relates principally to the operative parts by which the wire or wires is or are
passed over the cork, around the bottle neck, then twisted together to secure the
same to the bottle and severed and the projecting ends left thereby turned down
against the bottle neck to complete the process of wiring.
The object of my improvements is to considerably simplify the construction and
action of the machine; to make it more effective and positive in its action, and easier
to wire the bottles.
In carrying out my invention I retain the present means for giving motion to the
feed shaft through which the wires traverse, and to the mechanism mounted thereon
and I also retain the holding jaws connected with and operated by said mechanism,
for holding and guiding the wires which pass one over each outer face thereof and
two across the centre, but instead of being mounted as at present I arrange them
vertically or at right angles to the axis of the feed shaft so that the bottles to be
wired may be fed to the machine horizontally and more conveniently for the
attendant. The pinion together with its driver for rotating the frame carrying the
bobbins of wire I dispense with as I find in practice, that there is "backlash" or
non positive motion of the parts which causes the wires to be twisted or knotted
between said pinion and the pinion on the end of the feed shaft and consequently
renders the machine useless or difficult to work. In lieu of the said pinion and
driver I employ a barrel or disc mounted on the axis of the bobbin frame and a
similar barrel or disc is mounted on the end of the feed shaft, both said discs being
coupled together by a bolt, pin or stay so that on the feed shaft being rotated the
bobbin frame is likewise rotated the motion obtained thus being certain and positive
and avoiding injury to or twisting of the wires. Mounted or supported in a suitable
bracket or pedestal bolted to the frame of the machine is a ram or buffer, or a
resisting cushion, which occupies a position central of the curved ends of the holding
jaws when in their normal position or at the forward extent of their motion, the
said ram or buffer being surrounded by a spring suitably confined within the bracket
which resists pressure against such ram or buffer.
The bottle to be wired is inserted between the holding jaws so that the cork
abuts against the two central wires and it is then pushed forwards against the ram
or buffer which is forced endwise a short distance and by reason of its resistance to
the movement serves to press the wires tightly over the end of the cork. A hinged
gripping device is employed to hold the ends of the wires when released by the jaws
and is made to open and close at the proper times by a suitable cam on the cam
shaft of the machine, and also to move laterally to take hold of the ends of the
wires as they are released by the jaws, by means of a strong spring. The knife or
cutters for severing the wires and a suitable guide plate are supported at one side
of the bracket carrying the ram and are adapted to slide backwards and forwards
in ways formed in the framing or bracket; each being actuated by cam mounted on
the cam shaft. The said cutters or knives are preferably centred on a pivot and
are made to close upon each other to sever the wires by a suitable cam.
A fixed plate on one side of the ram serves as a guide to the neck of the bottle
which passes between it and the gripping device and holds the latter in position

page_text: until the holding jaws have been withdrawn over the bottle neck to lay the outer
wires around it and the ends of the wires twisted together by the rotation of
the holding jaws and severed by the cutters, when, the bottle being withdrawn, the
gripping device is released and is drawn laterally by the spiral spring towards the
holding jaws, at about which time the cam causes the said gripping device to seize
hold of the ends of the wires; the holding jaws then pushing back the gripping
device into its normal position where it remains until the next bottle has been wired,
and so on for each bottle.
The machine is set in motion for the purpose of withdrawing the holding jaws
over the bottle neck and twisting and severing the wires by the means previously
employed, and the action of the jaws is the same as formerly excepting that they
work in a different plane.
..
In order to bend back against the neck of the bottle the twisted ends of the wires
which project on each side after the above process, 1 employ a suitable bed or rest
to which are fixed two spring plates or fingers bent at the extremities and adapted,
when the bottle neck is forced there between to bend down the said projecting ends
to give the required finish to the wiring of the bottle.
To prevent injury to the attendant in the event of a bottle bursting, a wire guard
may be fixed to the machine to cover the bottle when being wired.
The machine constructed as above set forth is very simple and effective and
positive in action, and bottles can be wired thereby much more rapidly than by the
old machines.
Dated this 22nd day of December 1893.
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Market Place, Huddersfield, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle Wiring Machines.
I, WILLIAM HEATON KELLETT, of Honoria. Street, Fartown, Huddersfield,
Yorkshire, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention refers to machines for wiring bottles to secure the corks therein
and relates principally to the operative parts by which the wire or wires is or are
passed over the cork, around the bottle neck, then twisted together and severed,
and the projecting ends left thereby turned down against the bottle neck to
complete the process of wiring.
The object of my improvements is to considerably simplify the construction and
action of the machine; to make it more effective and positive in its action, and
easier to wire the bottles.
In carrying out my invention I retain the present means for giving motion to the
feed shaft and to the mechanism mounted thereon and I also retain the holding
jaws connected therewith for holding and guiding the wires, but instead of being
mounted as at present, I arrange them in a vertical plane so that the bottles to be
wired may be fed to the machine horizontally and more conveniently for the
attendant.
"
The pinion and driver for rotating the bobbin frame I also dispense with as I
find that, in practice, there is " " backlash or non positive action of the parts
which causes the wires to be twisted or knotted between said pinion and the pinion
on the feed shaft. In lieu of said pinion and driver I employ a barrel or disc
mounted on the axis of the bobbin frame and a similar barrel or disc is mounted on
the end of the feed shaft, both said discs being coupled together by bolt, pins or
stays so that on the feed shaft being rotated, the bobbin frame is likewise rotated,

page_text: the motion obtained being certain and positive or in harmony with that of the
feed shaft and thereby avoiding injury to or twisting of the wires. Mounted or
supported in a suitable bracket or pedestal bolted to the frame of the machine is a
ram or buffer, or a resisting cushion which occupies a position central of the curved
ends of the holding jaws when in their normal position or at the forward extent of
their motion, the said ram or buffer being surrounded by a spring so as to resist
pressure against it. The said ram or buffer serves to press the wires tightly over
the end of the cork. A hinged gripping device is employed to hold the ends of
the wires when released by the holding jaws and is made to open and close at the
proper times by a suitable cam and spring, and also to move laterally to take hold
of the ends of the wires as they are released by the jaws by means of a strong
spring. The knife or cutters for severing the wires and a suitable guide plate are
supported at one side of the bracket carrying the ram, the former being adapted
to slide backwards and forwards in ways in the bracket or framing under the action
of a cam and spring. In order to bend back against the neck of the bottle, the
twisted ends of the wires which project on each side after being severed, I employ
a bed or rest to which are fixed two spring plates or fingers bent at the extremities
and adapted, when the bottle neck is forced therebetween, to bend down the said
projecting ends to give the required finish to the wiring of the bottle.
For the purpose of more particularly describing my invention reference is
hereafter had to the annexed sheets of drawings illustrative thereof, wherein :-
Fig. 1 is front elevation of a bottle wiring machine to which my improvements
are applied.
Fig. 2 is plan thereof and
Fig. 3 end elevation looking in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a detail of the knife or cutters for severing the wires.
Fig. 5 is front elevation of part of the machine shewing the mechanism in the
position occupied when commencing to lay the wires around the bottle neck.
Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are enlarged details of parts hereinafter referred to.
Referring to the drawings, the machine comprises ordinarily the driving shaft a
having fast and loose pulleys a¹ and bevil wheel a³ mounted thereon, the latter
gearing with bevil wheel a mounted loosely on the cam shaft 6 and adapted to
impart motion to said shaft when the catch disc or clutch 61 is released as
subsequently explained. The motion given to cam shaft bis communicated by
gearing 6' to the pinion on the feed shaft c which is supported in bearings c³, c³,
in the framework of the machine.
C
The pinion 6³ is secured to the shaft c so as to rotate it by a key fitting into a
longitidunal groove or key bed in the shaft c, but it is prevented from moving
laterally with said shaft by the bearing c' and a plate or cap c between which it is
held as shewn. The feed shaft is slided end wise in its bearings for the purpose of
feeding forward a length of the wires and the parts for wiring the bottle by cam d
acting on a bowl d' carried by lever which is pivoted at d and connected at its
upper end by link d to the bracket or yoke d fast on the feed shaft c.
The wires e for wiring the bottles are wound upon bobbins el carried in the
bobbin frame e journalled in bearings e, e, and they are drawn from thence
through the hollow shaft or trunnion at the right of the bobbin frame and threaded
separately through their respective openings e (see Fig. 6) extending longitudinally
through the feed shaft c; two of the said wires being carried through guides f
across the centre of the holding jaws g and the remaining two wires carried one
over each half of the said jaws-as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2-
and finally through eyelets at the extremities of the jaws where they all meet
together and are held between the holding faces thereof.
The holding jaws are pivoted at g', g, to the bracket or horns.h carried loosely
on the end of the feed shaft c and they are closed upon the wires on the return or
backward stroke of the feed shaft by inclined or cam surfaces i, i, on the sliding
piece ; over which ride the pulleys g³, 9³, on the outer ends of the holding jaws.
When the feed shaft c is slided endwise to the extent of its backward stroke as

page_text: shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, the sliding piece j is made fast so as to turn with the feed
shaft by means of a stud or pin j' forced into a corresponding notch or recess in the
said shaft by the action of the flat spring, on the lever while the bracket
carrying the holding jaws is engaged by a pin forming a part of said sliding
piece and is thereby locked to and will rotate with the sliding piece and feed shaft.
As the feed shaft is being advanced forward into position to wire the bottle, the
lever strikes against a fixed stop k and is thereby moved on its fulcrum and draws
the pin out of engagement with the recess in the feed shaft whereupon the
spiral spring (see Fig. 2), confined between projections on the sliding piece and
the bracket h, expands and forces said sliding piece together with the guides back
to their normal positions as shewn at Fig. 5, and leaves the two central wires
exposed and the space between the holding jaws clear for the bottle neck / to be
introduced. During the time the bracket h remains disconnected from the sliding
piece j, it occupies a vertical position as shewn and enables the bottles to be fed
to the machine horizontally, which is much more convenient than the old vertical
feed.
The parts above described are the same as those previously employed in
machines for wiring bottles and their action is the same; but with regard to the
holding jaws, instead of being arranged to act in a horizontal plane as formerly I
have arranged them in a vertical plane in order to act conjointly with my
improvements at the feeding end of the machine.
The first part of my improvements to be described refers to the method of and
means for rotating the bobbin frame e³. On the end of the axis or hollow shaft at
the right hand of the bobbin frame and on the end of the feed shaft c respectively
I secure two discs or plates m, n. On the disc m, by preference, I secure two studs
or fingers m', m', projecting from the face thereof a distance corresponding to the
length of stroke of the feed shalt.
The disc n is provided with openings n¹ n' through which the studs m² m² are
adapted to pass freely. By this arrangement the disc n while free to move laterally
backward and forward with the feed shaft is locked or coupled to the disc m and
rotates it and therefore the bobbin frame e' when motion is given to the feed shaft,
whereby the bobbin frame is always rotated in harmony with the said shaft and all
liability of the wires becoming twisted or crossed is avoided.
The second part of my improvements to be described relate to means for gripping
the ends of the wires and holding same during the process of wiring; to means for
pressing the wires against or into the ends of the corks; to the arrangement in
combination with said parts of the knife or cutters for severing the wires at the
completion of the wiring of each bottle; and means for bending the projecting
twisted ends of the wires down against the sides of the bottle neck to give the
required finish.
The gripping device for seizing and holding the ends of the wires consists of
two portions or halves o, o', the former being pivoted or hinged at o' to the frame
or other fixed part of the machine and adapted to be drawn laterally in the direction
of the holding jaws by a strong spring o³, and the latter half being centred on the
stud of secured to the bottom halfo and having a heel piece at its extremity
which is held in engagement with the cam o on the cam shaft b by a spring o
secured thereto and to the frame or other fixed part of the machine. At each
revolution of the cam of the acting or gripping surfaces of the said gripping device
are brought firmly together so as to grip the wires between them and are held
together by the dwell on the cam until the wires have been laid around the bottle
neck, twisted together and severed. When the feed shaft moves backward, the
gripping device is drawn or turned on its pivot in the direction of arrow B by the
spring and at the proper time receives the ends of the wires left projecting from
the holding jaws and grips them tight. The forward traverse of the holding jaws
pushes the gripping device back into position for the introduction of a bottle as
shewn at Fig. 5 and is held in that position by the bottle neck until the latter has
been wired.

page_text: Arranged intermediate of the gripping device and the feed shaft are a ram or
pressure resisting stop piece or buffer p. a guide plate p¹ and the knife or cutters,
the latter being constructed in the ordinary manner but arranged in position as
shewn to act in combination with the gripping device and resisting ram p.
The ramp is supported in a bracket psecured to the machine in which it is
adapted to be slided end wise in the direction of arrow e against the resistance of a
spiral spring connected at one end to the ram and at the opposite end to the
bracket p². Instead of the spring other forms of springs, or india rubber
placed around the ram and confined within the bracket p. or otherwise arranged to
resist the end wise thrust of the ram, may be employed. The said ram occupies a
position, central of the curved ends of the holding jaws g when they are advance l
to the extent of the forward movement of the feed shaft-that is, in the position
shewn in Fig. 5, and between said curved ends of the holding jaws, with the cork
against the two wires stretched across same, is placed the neck 1 of the bottle
which the attendant presses against the acting face of the resisting ramp which is
forced end wise against the power of the spring p³ and thereby binds the two central
wires tightly against the end of the cork. At the same time the neck of the bottle
is brought into position to receive the two outer wires.
The end wise movement of the ramp is also utilised to automatically set the machine
in motion, instead of, as hitherto, having to separately actuate a treadle for such
purpose. This is effected by means of a finger or stud p secured on one end of the
ramp and engaging with the end of a lever s pivoted at s¹ to the frame of the
machine.
The lower end of said lever carries a studs which extends under a curved
levert pivoted at ' and engaging at its upper end with the ordinary catch or
projection, on the face of the catch disc or clutch 6¹. When the ram is pressed
forwards by the introduction of the bottle as described, the lever s is moved upon
its centre and, by means of stud s' actuates the levert and places its upper end
clear of the catch or projection on the disc b, thereby releasing the latter and
allowing motion to be given to the machine in the same manner as heretofore.
The machine being thus set in motion, the feed shaft c commences its return
movement and the holding jaws, being free to move on their centres y', g', are
drawn over the bottle neck and lay the two outer wires around the same, after
which the pulleys g³ g³, engage with and riding up the inclined surfaces i, i, close
the ends of the jaws upon the four wires. The feed shaft having now arrived at
the end of its backward stroke, the bracket & immediately locks with the sliding
piece and they are rapidly rotated by the feed shaft and twist together the four
wires.
Simultaneously with this movement, the cutters or shears q are advanced by
the action of spring 9' and cam g' on the cam shaft up to the twisted wires so as to
embrace them. A cam q* now closes the upper hinged blade upon the lower fixed
blade of the shears and the wires are thus severed a short distance from the ends.
of the holding jaws.
The upper blade is returned to its normal position by spring . As soon as the
wires are severed the bottle is withdrawn and the parts return to the positions.
shewn in Fig. 5 in readiness for wiring the next bottle, the motion of the machine
then ceasing for the time being by the re-engagement of lever t with the projection
on the friction disc or clutch 6. In the wiring of each successive bottle the same
actions as above described take place, the insertion of a bottle setting the machine
in motion and its withdrawal causing it to stop.
After the withdrawal of the bottle, the twisted ends of the wires projecting from
the two sides of the bottle neck are bent down against the sides thereof by the
extremities of a spring plate or fingers u secured to the bracket p¹. The bottle
neck is forced between the contracted ends of said spring plate as shewn in dotted
lines in Figs. 7 and 8, and their resistance to expansion bends down the wires as.
required.
"

page_text: The part of the bracket is dished or hollowed as shewn and forms a rest or
bed for the neck of the bottle.
On the bracket p is an adjustable stop piece w which determines the distance the
ram is to be forced inwardly to bring the required part of the bottle neck opposite
the holding jaws and gripping device.
The plate p' serves to guide the neck of the bottle in introducing it to the
machine.
An adjusting stop may be employed to limit the lateral movement of the gripping
device.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
Firstly. In bottle wiring machines, the means and method substantially as set
forth for driving the bobbin frame direct from the feed shaft in manner and for
purposes described.
Secondly. In bottle wiring machines, the hinged or pivoted gripping device
constructed, arranged and operating in the manner and for the purposes substantially
as herein shewn and described:
Thirdly. In bottle wiring machines, a ram or resisting stop or buffer arranged
intermediate of the gripping device and feed shaft and central of the holding jaws
when in their forward position substantially as shewn and acting in the manner and
for purposes described.
Fourthly. In bottle wiring machines, the combination of the hinged gripping
device, the pressure resisting ram or buffer, p, guide plate p' and shears or cutters q
together with the means for operating same, all arranged and acting conjointly as
shewn and described.
Fifthly. The combination, with the feed shaft of a bottle wiring machine, of
holding jaws arranged to act in a vertical plane for feeding and laying the wires, a
pivoted gripping device, a pressure resisting ram or buffer, means connected with
and operated by same for automatically releasing the catch driving disc or clutch
on cam shaft, and shears or cutters for severing the wires, all constructed, arranged
and operating substantially as shewn and described.
Sixthly. In bottle wiring machines, the combination, with a pressure resisting
ram or buffer, of an adjustable stop piece to for purposes described.
Seventhly. In bottle wiring machines, the hollowed or dished bottle neck rest v
and a spring plate or plates u or their equivalents, contracted at the mouth and
adapted to be expanded by placing the bottle neck there between and to bend the
projecting twisted wires down against the sides of said neck substantially as shewn
and described.
Deted this 22nd day of September 1894