U.S. patent number 3,707,217 [Application Number 05/070,213] was granted by the patent office on 1972-12-26 for method in apparatus for feeding closures.
This patent grant is currently assigned to American Flange & Manufacturing Co., Inc.. Invention is credited to Jack Z. Sharbon.
United States Patent |
3,707,217 |
Sharbon |
December 26, 1972 |
METHOD IN APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CLOSURES
Abstract
A method and apparatus for feeding circular closure seals
properly oriented with their respective interior surfaces facing in
the same direction. Randomly oriented closure seals are deposited
on a rotating disc and fed into a tangentially directed exit chute
partially oriented with their respective central axes in a vertical
plane. As the partially oriented closure seals are fed through the
exit chute seals having their interior surfaces facing downwardly
are deflected back onto the rotating disc and seals having their
interior surfaces facing upwardly allowed to pass through the exit
chute.
Inventors: |
Sharbon; Jack Z. (Linden,
NJ) |
Assignee: |
American Flange & Manufacturing
Co., Inc. (New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
22093890 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/070,213 |
Filed: |
September 8, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
198/380; 198/392;
198/398 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G
47/1464 (20130101); B65G 47/1457 (20130101); B67B
3/0645 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65G
47/14 (20060101); B67B 3/00 (20060101); B67B
3/064 (20060101); B65g 047/24 () |
Field of
Search: |
;198/33R,33AA
;221/156,160,173 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Aegerter; Richard E.
Claims
Having described my invention what I claim as follows:
1. The method of orienting and feeding circular closure members
having a recessed center panel surrounded by an annular shape
sealing channel, said method comprising the steps of depositing a
group of randomly oriented closure members onto a rotating disc,
moving said closure members radially outwardly toward the periphery
of said disc by centrifugal force and partially orienting said
closure members with said center panels lying in a horizontal
plane, arranging said partially oriented closure members along a
single file path, sensing the orientation of said closure members
in response to said arranging, conveying closure members having
their sealing channels similarly properly oriented to a subsequent
work station and directing improperly oriented closure members back
onto said disc for recycling.
2. The method as in claim 1 and effecting said directing by
ejecting said improperly oriented closure members upwardly out of
said path.
3. The method as in claim 1 wherein said sensing acts on the base
of said sealing channels and distinguishes between closure members
having their respective sealing channels opening upwardly and
closure members having their respective sealing channels opening
downwardly.
4. The method as in claim 1 and conveying said properly oriented
closure members having their respective sealing channels opening
upwardly.
5. The method as in claim 4 and retaining said properly oriented
closure members in said path by creating a subatmospheric air
pressure zone beneath said sealing channels.
6. Apparatus for feeding oriented closure members comprising
closure member delivery means, drive means for said delivery means,
an exit station juxtaposed said delivery means, said exit station
including an enclosed passageway, an upwardly opening aperture in
said passageway, closure member sensing means located within said
passageway for distinguishing between properly and improperly
oriented closure members, means operative in conjunction with said
sensing means for ejecting improperly oriented closure members out
through said aperture and means for conveying properly oriented
closure members through said passageway.
7. Apparatus as in claim 6 and including an exit chute connected to
said exit station for conveying properly oriented closure members
to a subsequent work station.
8. Apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said sensing means comprises an
upwardly directed air jet.
9. Apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said ejecting means includes a
radially inwardly directed air jet.
10. Apparatus for feeding oriented closure members having a
recessed center panel surrounded by a U-shape sealing channel
comprising a horizontally disposed circular disc, drive means for
rotating said disc, a tangential exit station juxtaposed said disc,
closure sensing means located within said exit station for
distinguishing between properly oriented closure members and
improperly oriented closure members, means operative in conjunction
with said sensing means for ejecting improperly oriented closure
members out of said exit station, an exit chute connected to said
exit station, means for conveying properly oriented closure members
into said exit chute, said exit station including an enclosed
passageway and an upwardly opening aperture in said passageway
through which said improperly oriented closure members are ejected.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is concerned with a method and apparatus for feeding
closure seals and is particularly directed to a method and
apparatus for feeding and orienting circular seals with their
respective interior surfaces facing in the same direction.
A unique closure seal has recently come into use as fully described
in copending application Ser. No. 7,780 filed Feb. 2, 1970 in the
name of Edward Wolf et al and having the same assignee as the
instant application. This particular closure seal has a recessed
center panel surrounded by an annular sealing channel having an
inverted U-shaped cross sectional configuration. Due to the above
described structural design, this seal does not lend itself to
handling by conventional closure feeding arrangements. Such
conventional feeding arrangements for handling circular articles
rely on a substantial distinction between the interior and exterior
surfaces of the article to facilitate orientation. This distinction
is minimized in the recessed center panel closure seal handled by
the invention. In order to meet the needs of commercial closure
seal production and application operations, it is necessary to
orient and feed such seals efficiently at relatively high speeds.
Conventional vibratory feeders and available mechanical feeders
have not been found adequate to meet these needs.
In accordance with the method and apparatus of the invention,
randomly oriented closure seals are deposited onto a rotating disc
and fed partially oriented with their respective central axes
disposed in a vertical plane into a tangentially extending exit
chute. A unique sensing device in the exit chute senses the moving
seals and ejects seals facing open side down back onto the rotating
disc for recycling, allowing fully oriented seals facing open side
up to pass through the exit chute. The apparatus for carrying out
this operation is compact, relatively inexpensive to manufacture
and capable of feeding high speed closure manufacturing and
applying operations.
It is accordingly a primary object of the invention to provide an
improved method of feeding container closures.
Another object is to provide apparatus for carrying out that
method.
A further object is to provide a method and apparatus for feeding
circular closure seals having a recessed center panel surrounded by
an annular sealing channel.
A further object is to provide a simplified apparatus capable of
feeding oriented recessed center panel closure seals at a high rate
of speed.
Other and more detailed objects will in part be pointed out and
part be obvious as the description of the invention taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawing proceeds.
In that drawing:
FIG. 1 is perspective view of the closure feeding apparatus of the
invention and for carrying out method thereof partly broken away
for clarity;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the closure orienting station of the
invention;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the closure orienting station;
FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken on line 4--4 in FIG. 3 and
looking in the direction of the arrows;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 in FIG. 3 and looking
in the direction of the arrows;
FIG. 6 is sectional view taken on line 6--6 in FIG. 3 and looking
in the direction of the arrows showing a properly oriented
closure;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the closure
orienting station with parts broken away for clarity;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8--8 in FIG. 5 and looking
in the direction of the arrows showing an improperly oriented
closure; and
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9--9 in FIG. 5.
FIG. 1 illustrates the closure feeding apparatus of the invention
wherein numeral 1 indicates a flat circular disc mounted on a
central shaft 2 rotationally driven by a pulley 3 and drive belt 4
connected to a motor (not shown). A cylindrical housing wall 5
surrounds the disc 1 and is provided with an interruption 6. A
mounting block 7 is secured to the housing wall 5 exteriorly of the
interruption 6. A spacer plate 8 is secured to the mounting block 7
and has an inwardly facing curved edge 9 corresponding to the
circumference of the disc 1. An air passage 10 is provided in the
plate 8 which communicates with the upper surface of plate 8 as
indicated at 11. An elongated discharge member 12 is secured to the
upper surface of the plate 8 so as to overlie the periphery of the
disc 1. The discharge member 12 has a pair of guide rails 13 and
13a secured to its under surface. An aperture 14 is formed in the
discharge member 12 provided with a radially inwardly disposed edge
15 having a downwardly and radially outwardly facing chamfered
surface 16 as clearly seen in FIGS. 6 and 8. An elongated air
passage 17 is formed in the guide rail 13 as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7
which communicates with the chamfered surface 16 as indicated at
18. An air line 19 is connected to the passage 17 at a point on the
discharge member 12 remote from the aperture 14. A radially
inwardly directed air jet 20 is positioned above the discharge
member 12 so as to direct a stream of air over the aperture 14. A
lead in block 21 is secured to the inner surface of the retaining
wall 5 at the forward end of the discharge member 12. An air line
22 is connected to an air passage 23, shown in FIG. 5, in the lead
in block 21, communicates with the bottom surface of the block 21
at 24 so as to direct a stream of air downwardly and tangentially
into the inner end of discharge member 12. An exit chute 25 is
connected to the outer end of the discharge member 12 and extends
from the disc 1 to a subsequent work station (not shown). The chute
25 is made up of a bottom plate 26 bordered by a pair upstanding
longitudinally extending L-shaped rails 27 each of which has an
upper foot 28 partially overlying the bottom plate 26.
As clearly illustrated in FIG. 6 the lightweight metal closure
number 30 which the feeding apparatus of the invention is
particularly suited for handling comprises a circular recessed
center panel 31 surrounded by an annular inverted U-shape sealing
channel 32. The sealing channel has upstanding inner wall 33, a
base wall 34 and a peripheral outer wall 35.
In operation randomly oriented closure members 30 are deposited
onto the rotating disc 1 and are urged under the influence of
centrifugal force to the periphery of the disc 1 with the closure
member center panels 31 lying in a horizontal plane. In this
position the closure members 30 are conveyed in a single file path
by the disc 1 underneath the lead in block 21 where the closure
member is brought under the influence of the air jet directed
through the opening 24. The closure member 30 is accordingly
accelerated into the discharge member 12. As the closure member 30
approaches the center of the aperture 14 in the discharge member
12, the air jet directed through the opening 18 in the chamfered
surface 16 urges the closure member 30 against the guide rail 13a.
Upon reaching the center of the aperture 14 the closure member
channel 32 is positioned over the air jet directed through the
opening 11. At this point a closure member having its channel
portion 32 opening downwardly is blown upwardly, as illustrated in
FIG. 8, out through the aperture 14 in the discharge member 12 and
back onto the disc 1. The chamfered surface 16 bordering the inner
edge of the aperture 14 assists in the movement of the closure
member 30 out of the discharge member 12. In addition, the air jet
20 acts against the underside of the closure member as it is lifted
up through the aperture 14 by the air jet directed through the
opening 11. The air jet 20 directs the closure back onto the disc 1
for recycling.
A closure member entering the discharge member 12 with its annular
channel 32 opening upwardly is conveyed over the air jet through
the opening 11 so that the air jet acts against the channel base
wall 34. The resulting increased air velocity creates a
subatmospheric air pressure zone between the channel base wall 34
and the upper surface of the plate 8 whereby the closure member 30
is urged downwardly by atmospheric pressure against the spacer
plate 8 as the closure is conveyed thereover. Accordingly, closure
members properly oriented with their respective sealing channels
opening upwardly are conveyed through the discharge member 12 by
the air jet directed through the opening 24 into the exit chute 25
for feeding to a subsequent work station in fully properly oriented
condition.
* * * * *