Improvements in Machines for Stoppering Bottles and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by the Firm of BOLDT & VOGEL, of 3, Kleine
Reichenstrasse, Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany, Machine Builders.]
Improvements in Machines for Stoppering Bottles and the like.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This new and improved machine for stoppering bottles, jars and other containing
vessels is distinguishable in these features from previous machinery of the same
class, in that the stoppered vessel is automatically removed by an ejector from the
place where it has been corked; that the vessel thus ejected is received and carried
off by an endless band or apron and that the moment a vessel to be stoppered is
placed in the operative position-overcoming the resistance of the ejector in the
|act—such ejector becomes the means of throwing the stoppering mechanism into
gear.
1:
The said ejector is formed of a pivotted double-armed lever and a push-rod
which is adjustable in a guiding slot provided in one arm of the lever, and is
adapted to be pressed by a spring against the vessel, such as a bottle or the like,
placed upon the plate or disk for the purpose of being provided with a cork and
retained on such disk in opposition to the pressure of the spring until the cork
has been driven into the bottle-neck. The stoppered bottle is then released and
pushed off the supporting disk by the forward pressure of the ejector; when it is
preferably received by a circling conveyor-band or apron adapted to carry it to
some other part of the room for further treatment.
It may be convenient to combine the ejector with mechanism for throwing
the machine into gear in such a manner that (as before stated) when the resistance
of such ejector is overcome in the act of inserting a bottle into position for corking
it may serve to throw the mechanism into gear of its own accord.
Que arm of the said ejector enrares a pawl from below, which pawl is revolvably
connected with a lever in such a manner that its position relating to the said lever
can be altered only by overcoming the resistance of the arm. This arm conse-
quently lifts the pawl and lever when it is itself raised by the pressure of the
bottle; the result being that an inclined projection formed on the lever is shifted
out of the way of a roller which is connected with a pin inserted into a sleeve
wedged fast on the driving wheel of the machine; beside which sleeve the strap
pulley is placed loose upon the driving shaft, such pulley being provided with
a cam or tappet adapted to engage with the said pin.
Whilst the wedging surface of the lever remains in front of the roller the pin
in the sleeve continues drawn back and the strap-pulley turns idle. But when,
as stated, the wedge-surface is lifted off the roller a spring forces the pin into the
path of the cam and the shaft starts revolving the moment the cam impinges
on the said pin and takes it round with it. The revolution of the shaft, as will

page_text: be presently explained, has the effect of first driving the stoppering punch down
towards the bottle underneath and then withdrawing it after the insertion of the
cork.
The lever and pawl remain in the lifted position but for a very short time, as
the rising arm towards the end of its upward movement releases the pawl thereby
allowing it, along with the lever, to descend upon the sleeve. The sleeve then
continues to turn underneath the lever until the roller has once more run up the
incline and has thus drawn back the pin from out of the path of the cam.
The
stoppering operation being now completed, the shaft is arrested, the bottle is
released and removed from the place where it stood by the ejector while the arm
is again drawn back by the spring under the pawl which for the purpose is adapted
to move out of the way somewhat by overcoming the resistance of the draw-spring.
The cork is driven into the bottle-neck by the punch which as the driving shaft
revolves is at the proper time pressed down against the cork through the medium
of the cam mounted on the said shaft and against the lever mechanism; the
cork being conveyed for the purpose from the feeding hopper, containing a supply
of corks, through the channel into the cork-press whence it is guided by the rollers
and mouth-piece after having been forced by the punch between the said rollers
and towards that mouth-piece.
Forward motion is imparted to the punch by the heart-shaped cam of the shaft,
while it is moved back through the agency of a bell-crank lever suspended from
a spring. The punch is withdrawn by a spring.
In a special arrangement of the cork-press the pins or spindles which carry the
rollers are provided with eccentric pins which after the nuts have been loosened
enable the said spindles to be turned so as to fill up any interstice which may have
formed as a result of wear between the rollers and mouth-piece; so that the cork
compressed in the punch or die may not enter any such intermediate space and get
away in the act of being pressed down.
In order to drive the cork into the bottle neck the dish should be raised by means
of the lever suspended from the die and by the spring and bell-crank lever, aud
should be locked in the raised position by ratchet mechanism consisting of an
are shaped rack provided with alternate teeth, which is placed upon the bell-
crank lever and of the pawls suspended by a swinging lever over the said rack;
which lever is made subject to the operation of the cam or tappet.
At the right moment the pawls or bolts are moved towards the segmental rack
and one of them engages in such rack while the others may move a little out of
the way being supported by suspended bearings.
Dated this 8th day of January 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Machines for Stoppering Bottles and the like.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 new and improved machine for stoppering bottles, jars and other vessels

page_text: is distinguished in these features from previous machinery of the same class, in
that the stoppered vessel is automatically removed by an ejector from the place
where it has been corked; that the vessel thus ejected is received and carried off
by an endless band or apron; and that the ejector is adapted to throw into gear
the stoppering mechanism when the said ejector is pushed back against the resist-
ance of its spring by placing a bottle to be stoppered upon the support provided
for this purpose.
In order that my invention may be more fully understood I will now proceed
to describe the same in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the improved stoppering machine;
Figure 2 is is a detailed view of the ejector device:
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the stoppering machine and, the means for
carrying away the stoppered bottles;
Figures 4 and 5 show to a somewhat larger scale a side elevation and a plan of
the ejector device;
Figure 6 is a horizontal section through Figure 4; and
Figures 7-11 show details of construction.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several
views.
The said ejector is formed of a pivotted double armed lever. ² and a
push-rod which is adjustable in a guiding slot provided in one arm of the said
lever, and is adapted to be pressed by a spring (Figures 1 and 2) against the
vessel, such as a bottle or the like, placed upon the plate or disc b for the purpose
of being provided with a cork and retained on such disc or dish against the
pressure of the spring at until the cork has been driven into the bottle-neck.
The stoppered bottle is then released and pushed off the supporting disc by the
forward pressure of the ejector; when it is preferably received by an endless con-
veyer-band or apron a adapted to carry it to some other part of the room for
further treatment.
It may be convenient to combine the ejector with a mechanism for throwing
the machine into gear in such a manner that (as before stated) when the ejector
is moved back in the act of placing a bottle into position for corking it may serve
to throw the stoppering mechanism into gear of its own accord.
i
The arm a of the said ejector engages a pawl from below, which pawl is
revolvably connected with a lever e and held in proper position by a suitable
spring connecting the said lever e and the pawl d'in such a manner that the
pawl and lever will be lifted by the arm a when it is itself raised by the oscilla-
tion of the ejector caused by pushing back the latter by placing a bottle on the
disc b. The result being that an inclined projection e¹ (Figures 4 and 5) formed
on the lever e is shifted out of the way of a roller f¹ which is connected with a
sliding bolt f lodged into a recess of a sleeve h wedged fast on the driving shaft g
of the machine: beside the sleeve h, is loosely mounted upon the driving shaft g,
the driving pulley i provided with a nose or tappet ¹ adapted to engage with the
said sliding bolt f (Figure 6).
Whilst the wedging surface of the lever e remains in front of the roller f¹
the bolt f in the sleeve h is held back and the pulley i turns loosely. But when,
as stated, the wedge-surface el is lifted off from the roller f¹ a spring forces the
bolt into the path of the tappet and the shaft g will be rotated the moment the
tappet impinges on the said bolt and takes it round with it. The revolution
of the shaft g, as will be presently explained, has the effect of first driving the
stoppering punch k down towards the bottle underneath and then withdrawing
it after the insertion of the cork into the bottle neck.
The lever e and pawl d remain in the lifted position but for a very short time,
as the rising arm towards the end of its upward movement releases the pawl
thereby allowing it, along with the lever, to descend upon the sleeve h. The
sleeve then continues to turn underneath the lever e until the roller has once mora
run up the incline e and has thus drawn back the bolt f from out of the path

page_text: of the tappet . The stoppering operation being now completed, the shaft y is
arrested, the bottle is released and removed from the place or disc b where it stood.
by the ejector at a² a³ which latter or the arm a¹ respectively is again drawn back
by the spring a under the pawl & which for this purpose is adapted to move out
of the way somewhat in consequence of the yielding of its spring d.
The cork is driven into the bottle-neck by the punch which as the driving
shaft g revolves is at the proper time pressed down against the cork through the
medium of the cam mounted on the said shaft and the lever mechanism;
the cork being conveyed for this purpose from the feeding hopper r, containing
a supply of corks, through the channel in front of a horizontal punch n of a
suitable cork press, whence the cork is forced by the said punch n between a
pair of pressing rollers t and above a mouth-piece u. Forward motion is imparted
to the punch by the heart-shaped cam m of the shaft g while it is moved back
through the agency of a bell-crank lever n¹ connected with a spring n². The
stoppering punch is withdrawn by a spring 3 (Figure 1).
In a special arrangement of the cork-press, shown by Figures 7 and 8, the pins
or spindless which carry the rollers t are provided with eccentric journals which
after the nuts w have been loosened enable the said spindles to be turned in case
of wear so as to adjust the rollers to be flush with the opening of the mouth-
piece u.
In order to drive the cork into the bottle-neck the dish b should be raised by
means of the lever suspended from the punch and by the spring of and bell-
crank lever and should be locked in the raised position by a ratchet mechanism
consisting of an arc shaped rack provided with alternate teeth, which is placed
upon the bell-crank lever 2 and of the pawls 1 suspended over the said rack
in a frame 2 carried by a swinging lever which lever is made subject to the
operation of the cam or tappet .
At the right moment the pawls or bolts are moved towards the segmental
rack and one of them engages in such rack while the others being supported
and guided by the frame p² may move a little upwards and out of the way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is;-
―:
1. The combination of a machine for stoppering bottles and the like, and of an
ejector device for automatically removing the stoppered bottle from the place or
support where it has been corked, and adapted to throw into gear the stoppering
mechanism when the said device is displaced and brought back again into its
active position by placing a bottle to be stoppered upon the support provided
therefor, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination of a machine for stoppering bottles and the like with an
ejector-device for removing the stoppered bottles, which ejector device consists
of a spring actuated lever mechanism (a³) influenced by the bottle to be
stoppered, a lever (e) provided with a cam (e¹) and a yielding pawl (d) and a spring
actuated sliding bolt for coupling or uncoupling the driving shaft and the driving
pulley, all constructed, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose
described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.