Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Bottle-capsules.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 25th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Bottle-capsules.
We, EDUARD POHL, THEODOR POHL, and FRANZ RIEDEL, of Wistritz near
Teplitz, Bohemia, in the Empire of Austro-Hungary, Manufacturers, 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 :-
The capsules usually placed over corks in the necks of bottles have hitherto
mostly been made by hand and required considerable skill on the part of the
operative, for it is essential that this work is done with the greatest precision
and uniformity, i.e. that all the capsules produced are of exactly the same
diameter and of equal thickness throughout their circumference.
In order to enable the novel features of this invention to be better understood we
shall first briefly describe the apparatus hitherto employed in the manufacture of
bottle capsules and this summary description will prove all the more appropriate, as
the old device is to a slight extent utilized in this new machine.
Referring to the accompanying drawings it will be seen from Figure 3 that the
usual mechanism consisted of a kind of lathe, having a bed-plate or frame A with
uprights or supports a' a² in which is fitted the spindle or mandrel B. This mandrel
is turned through the medium of the pulley band of a strap deriving motion from
any convenient source. In addition to the uprights mentioned, the bed-plate A
carries a guiding-frame C in the guide c' of which (see also Fig. 12, which is a
section on line xx of Figure 3) is adapted to reciprocate a slide or carriage C¹ upon
which are also mounted two standards or supports c² 3. The reciprocating motion
of the slide C is intended to enable the centre or shaft c alternately to approach
and bear on the tapered end of the mandrel B and to recede therefrom.
These
parts are brought together by means of the pedal pivotted on the rod or spindle co
and-link c which draws down the longer and lower arm of the bell-crank lever clo
pivotted at c. In doing this the bellcrank lever co with its upper arm which
projects into the slot c¹ of the slide, causes the whole of the slide or carriage, with
its' standards, etc., to be shifted to the left of Figure 3, until the centre or shaft c
meets the tapered end b₁ of the mandrel or spindle B. Now it has been usual
hitherto to pass on to this conical mandrel-end a number of blanks m (Fig. 7) to be
converted into bottle-capsules; they being fitted one into the other. To extend
these blanks to the required length, it has been necessary hitherto to press or stretch
them in the longitudinal direction from right to left of Figure 3 by means of a
piece of bone not unlike a paper-knife, a counter-bearing being generally provided
by placing a strip of steel or the like against the open end of the blank.
It is quite
clear however that according as the pressure exercised by hand upon the walls of
the blank with the assistance of the bone, was greater or less, these walls would
be stretched to a greater or less extent, and to a greater or less extent reduced in
thickness. Notable differences in size'and thickness have therefore been up to the
present time the almost inevitable consequence of this operation as hitherto
performed, in fact it has hardly ever been possible to obtain two capsules of exactly
the same size in succession, and this was partly the reason why the blanks were
superposed on the mandrel, in the manner stated, the idea being the better to
distribute or equalize the pressure of the bone. The arrangement however did not
in practice answer the desired purpose, as it was found that the upper or outer
blanks were often cut or burst open in the attempt of transmitting the pressure to
the blanks inside it, so that a portion of the blanks had always to be thrown away as
waste. Another disadvantage was that when ready, the caps showed spiral lines on
their surface, due to the combination of the rotary motion of the mandrel and the
O

page_text: rectilinear motion of the bone, and these spiral lines being by no means regular
greatly spoiled the appearance of the caps.
With a view to removing all these drawbacks we have substituted for the bone
a steel roller, which instead of moving along, and pressing on the caps in process of
formation, is adapted to turn about an axis parallel to the incline of the mandrel,
and so arranged that its periphery always exercises a uniform pressure on the
tapering part of the mandrel a spring-controlled bushing serving as a counter-
support instead of the steel strip.
The bottle-capsule machine constructed according to our invention as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, consists of a spindle or mandrel B upon which is passed a sliding
sleeve D, the motion of which in either direction is limited by means of a screw d¹
working in a groove d² of the mandrel B as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 14. This sleeve
extends nearly to the end of the cone of the mandrel (stopping short a distance of
about 3 millimetres) and is by means of a spiral spring da constantly forced from
left to right of Figures 1 and 2.
Upon the table or frame A of the machine is further provided a bed-plate E
secured to the frame by means of a bolt e. The frame A is here provided with
a slot e which enables the bed-plate E to approach or recede as required, and
the bolt e is provided with a plate e² against which the bolt-head is pressed. The
bed-plate E has two standards ee which serve as supports or bearings for the
rod and the screw-spindle e. The bed-plate E terminates in a casting E¹ guided
by the supporting piece oº.
Figure 4 is a section on line a¹¹ of Figure 5, which latter is a section on
line of Figure 4, and Fig. 6 is a section on line ³ ³ of Figure 4.
The supporting piece o is secured to the frame A by means of a screw e
(Figs. 4 and 5) and its head e enters a groove e8 while a nut e¹0 is threaded on it
from below. The piece E¹ adapted to move on this support, is provided with a
guide-groove eat the top for the slide F to travel in, which slide for this purpose
is provided with a preferably dove-tail guide-piece f', the groove being correspond-
ingly shaped. The slide F is hollow and is provided internally with another.
sliding piece f³ covered in by the plate 2. This latter slide f³ is constantly being
pressed upon by the spiral spring which tendency of the spring it however resists
on meeting the plate 2 (Fig. 6). This slide is enlarged at the top so as to form a
horizontal plate and between this plate and the upper plate f" brought sufficiently
close by means of screws or bolts the holder of the roller f10 is secured, being
locked in position by the retaining blocks f. Both in the slide f³ and plate f². the
rode has its bearings it being further supported by the standards e³, and e. This
rod carries a tappet f12 which enters the inner recess of the slide f³, and, when
the rod turns in either direction, shifts the said slide inclining it at a certain
angle, by pressing against its solid wall (Fig. 6) and thus alters the position of
the slide with the roller in relation to the mandrel to the desired extent (Fig. 13).
Upon the rode is secured a lever g' (Fig. 9) which, while the machine is at rest,
owing to the weight, points downward with its end 92, while its other end having a
handle g is directed upwardly. This lever is besides provided with a segment of a
threaded nut g, on its lower side, so that when the lever is lowered and brought
into the position in which it is shown in Figs. 2 and 9, the result is that the
rode is caused to turn a certain distance and by means of the tappet 12 to shift
the slide together with the roller f10, while at the same time the half-nut g¹ of
the said lever g takes up its position upon the screw spindle e, and as this screw-
spindle is driven by the wheel 9, but is capable of no longitudinal movement,
the half-nut g, jointly with the rod e, will move to the left (Fig. 13) and carry to the
left also the slide F along with its sliding-block and with the roller f10, so that the
latter now moves in a direction parallel to that of the inclined plane of the tapering
end of B, displacing also to the left the sleeve D, thereby stretching the blank m,
fitted on to the mandrel end, to the desired extent.
When the blank is placed on the mandrel the treadle should be lowered, by
which means the slide or carriage C₁, together with the centre or shaft c* is

page_text: moved from right to left of Figures 1, 2 and 3 and comes up to the cone of the
mandrel as in Figure 13 on which it bears with the ring * provided for the purpose
upon the pivot or reduced end h. The blank is thus secured in the required
position on the mandrel.
When this is done the lever gl is pulled down and owing to the friction thus
created, the ring h² which may be of indiarubber or equivalent soft material and
centre shaft are carried round by the rotating mandrel B. Owing to the
provision of an indiarubber or equivalent ring, any initials or devices stamped on
the top of the blank, to indicate the name of the manufacturer, or the like, remain
free from any damage through contact with the centre shaft ct.
During the stretching or extending operation the mandrel B holding the blanks,
is made to rotate with great speed, whereas the roller f10 moves but slowly, the
result being that this roller by exercising a gentle and even pressure on the sides of
the capsule in course of formation forms thereon a series of neat and well distributed
spiral lines or convolutions, which at once characterize machine-work as distinguish-
able from capsules made by hand.
When the cap or capsule has been thus made, both the treadle c" and the lever g¹
are released. Owing to the weight on its end g³, the lever y' swings over, so that
this weighted end descends while its opposite end rises, whereby the nut o gets
out of gear with the screw-spindle . The return movement of the slide or
carriage C is produced by the upper end of the bell-crank lever c¹o (Fig. 3). The
treadle is provided with a counterweight p (indicated in Figure 1 in dotted
lines) which when the raised treadle is released moves it to the position shown in
Fig. 3 whereby through the medium of the link c' which is now raised the bell-
crank lever cli.e. its upper end, together with the slide c¹ is shifted to the right of
Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
2
The consequence will be that the rod e³ together with its slide and roller under
the action of the spiral spring (indicated in dotted lines in Figures 2 and 3) will
move back and the sleeve D is at the same time moved to the right by the action
of the spiral spring d³ arranged upon the spindle or mandrel B thus stripping the
mandrel-end of the finished capsule. The free capsules then drop into an inclined
shoot or channel R (Fig. 1) of sheet metal or the like and thence into a suitably
arranged collector or receptacle.
J3
To sum up then the whole of the operation, the operative in attendance has to
go through three successive stages (1) he, with the left hand, places the blank on
the tapering end or cone of the mandrel (or on the reduced end of the sleeve D);
(2) he lowers the pedal with his foot, and (3) he lowers the lever g with the
right hand. It will be understood that the rod e and screw-spindle should be
parallel to the inclined surface of the cone b. Roughly the bed-plate E is for this
purpose adjusted by a corresponding adjustment of the screw e within the slot el
of the frame and also by tightening the screw e; but for the precise adjustment
of the piece El together with the slide F carrying the roller so that the roller
may exactly fit the cone, the screw-spindle i must be employed. For this purpose
this screw spindle is adapted to turn in the supporting piece of, but not to shift.
longitudinally, and it is extended through the nut i¹. When the spindle i is turned
somewhat by means of a crank handle or key fitted to its square end, the piece El
which is integral with the nut (Figs. 4 and 5) will be moved a short distance
either backwards or forwards as the case may be whereby the roller may
according to requirements be brought closer to or farther from the cone.
mechanism enables the adjustment of the roller to be effected with the utmost
precision, and by thus simply adjusting the roller in relation to the mandrel-cone,
a ready means is supplied for obtaining bottle-capsules of various thicknesses, the
thinnest of them being always exactly uniform and alike in size and shape. The
adjusting screws k serve for pressing the wedge-shaped piece / against the slide F
to take up wear when necessary.
10
This
It should be observed that the main pulley b receives much more rapid motion'

page_text: than the pulley g' which drives the screw-spindle e, which result is obtained by
suitably proportioned transmitting gearing operated from the main driving shaft.
Figure 7 shows a blank m in section. These blanks are made in a separate
machine of the well-known material, being an alloy of tin and lead (tin-and-lead
foil). From blanks such as these, capsules may be made in our machine to assume
the shape represented in Figure 8.
It will be understood from the drawings and particularly from Fig. 1A that the
roller 10 takes up its position in the space between the sleeve D and the cone b
and in so doing presses upon the capsule in process of formation and stretches the
. same as above set forth.
The spring o shown in Fig. 1 to exercise its pressure on the roller 10, is intended
to press a sheet of emery-cloth or equivalent against the said roller so as always to
keep it clean. The treadle e as shown in Fig. 1, is provided with a counter-
weight p so that when the foot is removed from the treadle it may of its own
accord return to its normal position.
Perspective views of the parts E and E' are given in Figure II.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is,-
1. In a machine for the manufacture of bottle-capsules a device arranged on a
suitable frame or table A and adapted by means of a roller f10 to stretch or extend
the blanks placed on a cone and sleeve D for which purpose the said roller takes
up its position between the sleeve D acting as a counter-bearing or stop and the
cone of the mandrel B and in so doing presses the capsule in course of formation
against the cone while in travelling thereon it stretches the said capsule into a
shape corresponding to that of the cone 6 substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings the combined action of the rotating mandrel or
spindle B and blank thereon and of the rectilinear motion of the roller/10 resulting
in the formation along the walls of the cap of regularly and closely set spiral lines
or convolutions.
2. In a machine such as described the device for imparting rectilinear motion to
the roller consisting of a bed-plate such as E resting with its projecting portion
or block E which has a guide-groove e" upon a supporting piece of the said guide-
groove ell being provided for the slide F to travel in under the action of the rod es
in either direction the said rod es also engaging and operating by means of its
projection or tappet f12 a block f³ movably arranged within the slide F whereby
the roller is pressed against the cone 'the fork-shaped holder f' of the roller fo
being retained between the upper portion f of the block 3 and the plate
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a machine such as described the bed-plate E referred to in the second
claim the arrangement of a rod e and screw-spindle e extending in a direction
parallel to the surface of cone b' and supported in standards e et there being a lever
such as gl rigidly secured to the rod e so arranged that by lowering it a double
effect is obtained first the rod e' is turned and the slide 3 and roller f10 are con-
sequently displaced and secondly the segmental nut g engages the screw-spindle e
so that the nut together with the lever and rod e are moved whereby the slide F
together with the roller f10 is caused to move along the cone 6 while as the
lever g' is raised and the nut g' disengaged from the screw-spindle e a spiral
spring forces back the rod e together with the slide F and a spring causes the
sleeve D to return to its normal position thereby stripping the mandrel end or
cone of the finished capsule which passes away into the discharge-channel
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a machine such as described the attachment of au indiarubber ring or
collar to the centre-shaft c' as a substitute for the cork-plate usual hitherto for
the prevention of damage to the capsule when the centre meets the tapered

page_text: mandrel end substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
5. For the purpose of inclining the whole device bodily in a plane parallel to the
incline of the mandrel end or cone the provision of a supporting-piece such as of
which by means of the adjustable screw e is rigidly connected with the frame and
carries a projection or casting such as E' provided with a nut i through which
passes a screw spindle i supported in o so that by turning this spindle the part El
of the plate together with its slide F and roller f10 may be adjusted to a nicety
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 8th day of December 1892.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.