Improvements in Bottle Stoppering Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 5th Feb., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bottle Stoppering Machines.
I, BENJAMIN BERNARD FRIEDENWALD, of 217, North Holiday Street, Baltimore,
in the State of Maryland, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to mechanism for feeding what are known as crown bottle
stoppers, from a hopper or reservoir to the devices which affix the crowns to the
heads of the bottles.
These crowns are well known in the trade and are composed of sheet metal
having a crimped or corrugated flange with a disk of cork or similar material
in the recessed side of the cap and these are adapted to be placed over the head
of the bottle and by suitable devices which are well known to have the corrugated
flange forced inwardly to engage a shoulder or groove in the neck of the bottle.
The present invention has to do only with the means for properly feeding the
crowns from a hopper or reservoir down a feed chute which leads to the device
for applying the crowns to the bottles, and it includes improved means for holding
the crowns in position prior to their application to the head of the bottle.
In the present invention I have aimed particularly to avoid clogging of the
crowns in the hopper and at the mouth of the chute or race, and by my present
construction I have succeeded in overcoming many serious difficulties which have
been met with in this connection.
Another important difficulty which has been overcome by the present invention
is that of permitting the entrance of the necks of bottles of different sizes to
receive the crown without rendering large size bottle necks liable to fracture, my
present invention providing an ingenious support for the crowns adapted to
permit the insertion of bottles with thickened or enlarged necks, without in any
way interfering with the perfect operation of the device and without danger of
breaking the bottle.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete machine with my improvements
attached.
Figure 2 is a view a quarter turn enlarged from that of Figure 1 and showing
a part only of what is illustrated by Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the hopper.
Figure 4 is a view of one of the divisions of the hopper showing the interior.
Figure 5 is a like view showing the other half of the hopper.
Figure 6 is a partial section lengthwise of the hopper showing the channel
between the two parts leading to the chute or race.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are detail sectional views of the means for supporting the
crowns and showing in the latter figure a bottle in place in the act of having the
crown crimped upon the same.
Figure 10 is a detail view of the racks and gear for rotating the feed wheel
in the hopper.

page_text: Figure 11 is a modification of this mechanism.
Figure 12 is a perspective view of one of the crown supporting fingers.
It will be understood that the crowns are placed in the hopper promiscuously
and are fed downwardly through the chute or race to the applying devices and
by these are applied to the head of the bottle, the bottles being removed and
replaced by others as rapidly as the workmen can operate. It will be seen that
with such rapidity of movement it is of the utmost importance that a crown
should always be in place ready for the next bottle presented and this requires
that the crowns must be fed properly and that there be no intermission in their
feed, and it is one of the particular objects of my invention to assure a constant
feed, preventing all danger of clogging and especially at the entrance to the
chute where it is so liable and especially guarded against. The hopper is shown
at A, is made up of two sections a, b, bolted together and the chute B joins
the hopper on the line of the junction of the two parts. The hopper as shown
has a flaring central part C which forms a channel as shown at c Figure 6, this
channel being continued into the chute. A wheel d on the shaft e is located
within the hopper and this wheel has a flange extending vertically into the
channel and in the face of the flange as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 6 are
arranged a series of projections placed a distance apart sufficient to permit a
crown to pass between into the channel c and from thence into the chute provided
the crown is properly directed to the projections of the ring, that is with its convex
portion adjacent to the flange and its corrugated portion extending away from the
same, and in this position the space between the projections is just sufficient to
permit the crown to drop between them. But if the crown is presented to the
projections with the concave side inward the space between the projections is not
sufficient to allow the crown to pass and it will be carried upwardly on the pro-
jections until it falls or is pushed off into the mass of crowns. The flange of the
wheel is shown at f and the projections at g and it will be observed that these
projections guard the entrance to the channel c and no crown can pass to the
channel without first passing between the projections and no crown can pass the
projections unless it is presented in a proper manner so as to be fed concave side
downward to the chute which when thus fed will present it in proper position to
be affixed to the bottle.
In order to prevent the crowns from sticking to the flange f I have arranged
concentric grooves in the face of the flange, shown at Figure 4 at h, and a dis-
placer secured to the upper part of the hopper is provided with points & adapted
to enter the grooves h and throw off any adhering crowns which may reach
this point.
l
As the most likely place for the crowns to clog is at the entrance of the chute
from the hopper I have provided a construction to render this impossible. This
consists, as shown in Figure 5, of a tongue projecting upwardly into the channel c
and this has the function of turning upwardly any crowns which may come from
the left and to pass them over the crown which may be at the junction and the
crowns thus elevated will fall by gravity into their place and in their own turn
will be fed down the chute. The tongue serves as a barrier to prevent the corru-
gated flanges of the crowns from locking at this point and this is the only point
where this is likely to occur.
The crowns pass down the chute B and are fed bottom side downward to sup-
porting devices more fully described hereinafter.
The wheel and its shaft receive motion by means of a double rack shown at
Figure 10 at m, these racks being connected by springs n and being arranged
at each side of a gear wheel o on the shaft e¹. The double racks are carried in a
frame supported upon a post p which is secured to the frame in any suitable
manner and in the reciprocation of the hopper through its support D to which
it is suitably connected by a bracket r, it will be seen that the double rack gives
an intermittent rotation to the wheel. The spring S serves to return the parts to
normal position after the downward movement of the hopper and chute.

page_text: In order to prevent the crowns from being jammed between the wheel and the
walls of the hopper I provide angle plates t as shown in Figure 3, these angle
plates having inclined edges which in the rotation of the wheel will throw the
crowns to one side.
The attaching devices are carried within a head E adapted to reciprocate with
the hopper and chute and as shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9, this comprises a head
having inner tapering walls 2 which is forced down over the head of the bottle
crowding the corrugated flange of the cap into the groove in the neck of the
bottle. This is of ordinary construction.
The upper wall of the chute joins at a point 3, an extension of a ring 4 forming
the bottom of the attaching device and the channel of the chute is continued
through this ring to the opening thereof as shown at 5 in Figure 9. The under
part of the chute 6 is detachable, being connected by pins 7 and 8 and by dis-
placing these pins the section 6 may be removed in case there should be any
necessity for it by reason of any clogging at the point where the crowns are
attached. The section 6 terminates in a ring extension 9 which fits beneath the
ring 4 and has an opening centrally thereof corresponding to the opening in the
ring 4. This forms the bottom of the channel and a continuation of the chute
at this point and directs the crowns to their proper position in readiness to be
attached to the bottles. The under face of the ring 9 flares toward the opening
as shown in the figures. By withdrawing the pin 8 the bottom of section (includ
ing the ring 9 will swing outwardly on the pin 7 and thus expose the passage
in the ring 4 and permit any damaged crowns to be removed.
In order to permit the discharge of any dirt or dust which may find its way
into the hopper with the crowns I make an opening 10 through the section 6 and
through this opening any foreign matter will be discharged.
The openings in the rings 4 and 9 must be of a diameter equal to the largest
size of bottle necks to which the crowns are attached and as this diameter exceeds
the ordinary diameter of the crowns at their widest point it will be observed that
means must be provided to retain the crowns in position or else as they were fed
down the chute into the passage 5 they would drop through the opening in the
ring 9. To this end I provide spring supports, one of which I show in perspective
in Figure 12. This has a notched face at 11 and a spring in rear 12, which as
shown in Figure 8 tends to throw the lower ends of the catches out. The notches 11
of the catches are directly in line with the lower surface of the chute and they are
arranged upon opposite sides thereof so that as the crown is fed down into the
channel 5 the extending flange will pass into the grooves 11 as shown in Figure 8,
and thus hold the crown in position over the opening 13 in the ring 9 and directly
beneath the tapering throat. A spring stop 14, Figure 7 limits the movement
of the crown, this stop being similar to the catches except that it has no groove
on its face and simply serves as a stop.
It will be seen from this construction that the crown is centered and supported
by spring catches and in the reciprocation of the parts the ring 9 passes down
over the end of the bottle with the result that the crown is lifted from its sup-
porting catches and these catches move backwardly against the tension of their
springs to allow for the entrance of the head of the bottle and thus provision is
made for the entrance of bottles having necks of larger diameter than that of
the extended crown. The spring catches are forced back easily as they have
their lower ends inclined as at 15 and these inclined ends fit recesses in the inner
wall of the ring 9.
Figure 9 shows the parts in their lowest position after the throat 2 has forced
the flange of the crown into the groove in the head of the bottle. The machine
of course may be run by hand, foot or other motive power.
In Figure 11 I have shown a modification of a driving mechanism for rotating
the wheel within the hopper. In this form instead of the double spring racks
of Figure 10 I place between the pinion on the shaft e and the rack m', a train

page_text: of gearing by which the same result is accomplished. I do not limit myself in
this connection, as any suitable means may be used instead of the mechanism shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A mechanism for feeding what are known as crown bottle stoppers from a
hopper or reservoir to the devices which affix the crowns to the bottles, comprising
a hopper having rotating devices therein, a channel leading to the discharge
chute, means for feeding the crowns in proper position into said channel, a movable
bottom for the chute and a spring support for the crown at the end of the chute
all as shown and described.
2. In the device made the subject of Claim 1, a tongue in the hopper arranged
at the junction of the channel thereof and the entrance to the chute adapted to
direct the crowns upwardly and prevent clogging, substantially as shown and
described.
3. In combination with the device of Claim 1, a chute having a movable
section at its lower end whereby access may be had to remove obstructions as
shown and described.
4. In the apparatus described, a support for the crowns adapted to hold them
in position over the opening fitted to receive the bottle neck, consisting of spring
catches engaging the flange of the crown and while holding the same in position
adapted to prevent the displacement of the crown but to permit the entrance of
the bottle neck, the catches receding as they are passed down over the neck of
the bottle.
5. In the apparatus described a hopper with a channel in the walls thereof
leading to the discharge chute and a flanged wheel rotated within the hopper,
said flange having a series of projections on its face extending across the channel
and adapted to prevent the crowns from passing to the said channel and chute
except in proper position for delivery.
6. The described machine constructed substantially as shown and for the
purpose set forth.
Dated this 25th day of October 1897.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26, Castle Street, Liverpool.
Agents for the Applicant.