Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
Workpiece steady for a decorating machine
Cross-reference to related applications
Not applicable.
Background of the invention
1. Field of the invention: The present invention relates to an ancillary
conveyance to adjust the transport speed of a workpiece while supported on a
conveyor driven at
a constant speed for the supply and/or discharge of workpieces to a decorating
machine conveyor
of an intermittent motion type-decorating machine, preferably incorporating an
improved
workpiece registration station.
2. Description of the prior art: U.S. Patent Numbers 2,231,535; 2,261,255;
2,721,516; 3,146,705; 3,388,574; and 5,524,535 disclose intermittent motion
type decorating
machines using an indexing drive system to impart intermittent traveling
motion to an endless
chain conveyor provided with workpiece carriers for supporting workpieces such
as bottles made
of glass or plastic. U.S. Patent No. 3,388,574 discloses horizontally
orientated bottle carriers
arranged in a side-by-side relation on a conveyor chain and used for
supporting each bottle in a
horizontal orientation while intermittently moved along a path of travel
through a decorating
machine. Each bottle is supported at its opposite ends by clamping chucks. One
chuck rotated
by a machine drive is temporally connected with a crank arm on a journal
extending from a
bearing support and the other clamping chuck is moveable to release and
resiliently forced by a
spring to engage and rotatably support the bottle about a horizontal axis
extending along the
extended length of the bottle. The clamping chucks are supported on a base,
which is secured to
chain-links forming the endless conveyor chain extending along the path of
travel of bottles
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through the decorating machine. The clamping force acting on the bottle by the
clamping chucks
is the only force retaining the bottle on the conveyor. The effect of inertia
acting on the bottle in
response to the intermittent motion at a given through put speed must be
offset by the clamping
force. However, the magnitude of the clamping force establishes a break away
force for relative
rotation between the bottle and the clamping chucks for registration of the
bottle relative to the
decoration cycle by the machine.
In these known forms of intermittent motion decorating machines, a bottle is
moved by the endless chain conveyor driven by an indexing drive through a
predetermined
distance, stopped, moved again through a predetermined distance, stopped and
again moved until
each bottle is advanced by the sequence of motions completely through all of
the decorating
stations of the decorating machine. A decorating station is provided at one or
more places along
the conveyor where the bottle comes to a stop. Additionally, a registration
drive is arranged
along the conveyor between the bottle loading station and the first decorating
station. The
registration drive rotates the bottle and uses an indexing finger to engage in
a recess in the wall of
the bottle. This action causes a slip clutch action by the stoppage to the
rotation of the bottle
while the driven clamping chuck continues to rotate to a completion of the
registration cycle.
The stoppage to the rotation of the bottle establishes a predetermined
orientation of the bottle
surface relative to a decorating station and serves for orientating the bottle
particularly the usual
seam line in the bottle surface formed by the parting line of the parsons mold
part relative to the
printing screen at each decorating station. One half of the decorating cycle
is used for decorating
the bottles and the remaining half of the cycle is used for the indexing
movement of the bottle
through the decorating machine. At each decorating station while the bottle is
stopped from
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traveling motion, a decorating screen is displaced into line contact by an
associated squeegee
with the surface of the bottle while the bottle is rotated about the
longitudinal axis thereof.
During the first part of the decorating cycle, the screen is moved synchronous
with the peripheral
speed of the rotating bottle to avoid smearing during decoration at the line
of contact established
between a squeegee and the bottle. The squeegee remains stationary during the
decorating
process. When the screen moves to the end of its travel, the bottle has
rotated 360 whereupon
the screen drive mechanism maintains the screen stationary for the remaining
part of the
decorating cycle while the bottle is removed from the decorating station and
an undecorated
bottle is moved to the decorating station.
Thermosetting ink was usually the printing medium in such. intermittent motion
decorating machines, particularly when multiple color decoration was applied
to the bottles. Ink
of only one color is applied at each decorating station and to decorate with
multiple colors
requires a corresponding number of decoration stations. When the different
colors interleave in a
given area of the bottle and therefore, because the same area is contacted
with a screen for
applying each color, it is necessary that the applied ink/color is solid and
will not smear before
each additional ink/color is applied. Although the thermosetting ink is
solidified after each
printing operation, it is necessary to cure the ink usually by feeding the
bottles through a furnace
after discharging from the decorating machine. In patent no. 6,079,326, curing
of an ink
decoration is completed after applied at one decorating station before an
additional decoration is
applied. The dwell period to the intermittent advancing motion by the conveyor
chain is used to
both apply ink decoration and to cure the applied decoration all at spaced
apart sites along the
course of travel by the bottles in the decorating machine. All the decoration
on a bottle when
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CA 02464159 2004-04-07
delivered from the decoration machine is cured so that the bottles can be
loaded directly into a
shipping container without the need to cure the decoration in a furnace.
As disclosed in United States Patent No. 5,524,535 the machine cycle in an
intermittent motion decorating machine is altered to attain an increase to the
workpiece
decoration rate. The altered machine cycle provides that the portion of the
cycle for conveyor
indexing have a reduced duration in order to provide an increased part of the
machine cycle for
decorating. The conventional chain conveyor required an indexer drive to
transmit the torque
required to rapidly accelerate and decelerate a chain conveyor laden with
carriers and including
the compliment of bottles or workpieces processed in a decorating machine. A
deviation to the
use of a chain conveyor for workpieces in an intermittent decorating machiine
is disclosed in
patent no. 6,073,553 and notably includes the use of elongated barrel cams and
transfer disks
arranged to provide a continuous traveling motion to the horizontal workpiece
carriers. The
traveling motion of the horizontal carriers is interrupted only at each
decorating station and,
when provided, at each curing station. The continuous traveling motion greatly
increased the
through put rate for workpieces in the decorating machine.
The present invention provides an increase to the rate at which the workpieces
are
delivered and, if desired, supplied to an intermittent motion decorating
machine. The handling of
workpieces particularly bottles demand the use of constraints as they are
manipulated during the
feeding operation from a source of supply and discharged from the decorating
conveyor. The
glass forming operations employed to produce the bottle also impose
dimensional variations to
the bottles that must be accommodated particularly during high speed handling
by the bottle at
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the entry and delivery equipment as well as during passage through the actual
bottle decorating
machine.
The present invention further seeks to provide a workpiece steadying apparatus
to
alter the transfer speed of workpieces individually and consecutively from a
delivery rate by a
decorating transfer conveyor as received from the transfer operation carried
out simultaneously
with a reorientation of the workpiece. The change to the workpiece
orientation, such when the
workpiece comprises a bottle, has been carried out in the past as shown in
IUnited States Patent
No. 3,648,821 in which a conveyor supplies the bottles in a vertical
orientation to a point where
they are orientated horizontally and transferred to a conveyor of a
decoratirig machine. The
bottles are decorated while horizontally orientated and then delivered from
the decorating
machine by a transfer device to a discharge conveyor. The transfer device
orientates the bottles
from the horizontal to the vertical for conveyance by the discharge conveyor.
When the rate at
which bottles are fed through the decorating machine increases, there also
occurs the need to
captivity hold the bottle throughout each supply operation through the feed
conveyor to the
conveyor of the decorating machine and through the conveyor of the decorating
machine to the
delivery conveyor. Also, the motions necessary to grip and release the
workpiece during these
transferring operations must be executed with great precision to insure
successful handling of the
workpiece that necessarily requires that the workpiece be taken from the fi-
eestanding vertically,
stable attitude, re-orientated to the horizontal and placed in a wholly
confined driven conveyor
and taken from the driven conveyor, re-orientated from the horizontal to again
regain a free-
standing vertically, stable attitude.
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It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for
adjusting the conveyance speed and at the same time stabilizing a workpiece
particularly a bottle
during delivery from and, if desired, delivery to a decorating machine.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide, in a decorating
machine,
horizontal workpiece carriers continuously advanced except at each of a
plurality of spaced
decorating stations and a registration station wherein the latter establishes
the registration of the
workpiece orientation at a reduced clamping pressure on the carriers which is
restored to a
predetermined claming pressure for receiving decoration at each of the
subsequent decorating
stations.
Summary of the invention
According to the present invention there is the combination of a workpiece
steady
in the flow path of a workpiece delivery conveyor to handle workpieces carried
by a decorator
conveyor of a decorating machine, a plurality of workpiece stabilizers to
drivingly support
workpieces during a change to a workpiece speed of travel along the workpiece
delivery
conveyor, each of the workpiece stabilizers including a cam follower and
stabilizer guides, and at
least one workpiece drive cam having a cam track receiving the cam followers
for changing the
speed of travel by workpieces between an entry speed and a discharge speed,
one such speed
corresponds to and the other speed differs from the conveyance speeds by the
workpiece delivery
conveyor, a space between the consecutively advancing workpieces along the
workpiece drive
cam ever changing by the change to the speed of travel by the consecutively
advancing
workpiece stabilizers.
Preferably, the combination according to the present invention further
includes
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conveyance guides engaged with the workpiece stabilizers for maintaining the
cam followers
drivingly engaged with the cam track. The conveyance guides may be embodied as
guide rollers
mounted on the workpiece stabilizers for orbiting endless cam tracks in spaced
apart horizontal
housing plates of the workpiece stabilizers. The present invention is
particularly useful for
stabilizing workpieces undergoing a change of speed either at the entry enct
of a decorating
machine or at the delivery end of the machine where the workpiece is
accelerated to the thru put
speed at the entry end and decelerated to a desired transport speed for more
densely populating
the delivery conveyor with workpieces.
Additionally, the present invention provides an apparatus to establish a
predetermined orientation of a surface of a workpiece to receive decoration
relative to screen
printing stations of an intermittent decorating machine, the intermittent
decorating machine
having a plurality of decorating stations preceded by a registration station
,and all horizontally
spaced along a workpiece feed cam, the feed cam includes a continuous motion
cam track
constructed with a dwell period at each of the stations for independently
presenting a workpiece
on a horizontal carrier to register the orientation of the workpiece and apply
decoration to the
workpieces on the horizontal carriers. The apparatus is preferably provided
with an operating
system and a registration station to reduce the clamping pressure applied to
the workpieces when
registration of the workpiece orientation occurs. In its most preferred forrn,
the workpieces
undergo continuous advancing movement in the decorating machine exceipt only
at workstations
for registration and decorating of the workpieces. In a machine of this type,
workpieces are fed
with continuous motion to the decorating machine and discharge by continuous
motion from the
machine.
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Brief description of the drawings
The present invention will be more fully understood when the following
description is read in light of the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a decorating machine according to a first
embodiment
of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the decorating machine shown in Figure
1;
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along lines III-III of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a schematic drive layout illustrating the major drive components
comprising the decorating machine and the supply and delivery apparatus for a
bottle
workpieces;
Figure 5 is a plan view taken along lines V-V of Figure 3;
Figure 6 is an enlarged end elevational view taken along lines VI-VI of Figure
5;
Figure 7 is an elevational view in section taken along lines VII-VII of Figure
1;
Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along lines VIII-VIII of Figure
1;
Figure 9 is an enlarged view of the workpiece conveyance shown in Figure 8;
Figure 10 is an enlarged elevation view in section at a decorating station
taken
along lines X-X of Figure 8;
Figures 11 A, 11 B, 11 C, and 11 D are displacement diagram views illustrating
the
timing sequence for the conveyance control of a bottle horizontal carrier
during transfer from a
transfer disk to a barrel cam;
Figure 12A is a plan view of a bottle horizontal carrier taken along lines XII-
XII
of Figure 8;
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Figure 12B is a side elevational view of the bottle horizontal. carrier shown
in
Figure 12A;
Figure 12C is a bottom plan view of the horizontal bottle carrier shown in
Figure
12A;
Figures 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D and 13E are timing sequence illustrations taken
along lines XIII-XIII of Figure 2 showing a cam track for impartiilg
travelirig motion and a dwell
period in relation to a decorating station;
Figure 14 is an enlarged elevation view of the registration station at the
entry side
of the conveyor for the decorating machine of the present invention;
Figure 15 is an elevational view taken along lines XV-XV of Figure 1;
Figure 16 is a plan view taken along lines XVI-XVI of Figu:re 14;
Figure 17 is an elevational view of the bottle unloading equiipment embodying
the
present invention;
Figure 18 is a geometric diagram illustrating the reorientation of a bottle
from
vertical to horizontal by operation of the loading/equipment shown in Figure
17;
Figure 19 is an end elevational view taken along lines XIX-XIX of Figure 17;
Figure 20 is a sectional view taken along lines XX-XX of Figure 17;
Figure 21 is a plane view taken along lines XXI-XXI of Figure 20;
Figure 22 is a front elevational view of a bottle gripper taken along lines
XXII-
XXII of Figure 21;
Figure 23 is a rear elevational view of the bottle gripper shown in Figure 22;
Figure 24 is a sectional view taken along lines XXIV-XXIV of Figure 23;
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Figure 25 is a sectional view taken along lines XXV-XXV of Figure 23;
Figure 26 diagrammatical illustrates the pivotal displacement of a bottle
gripper
by a cam drive;
Figures 27-30 are illustrations of the sequence of the transfer of support of
a bottle
from a supply conveyor to a bottle transfer according to the present
invention;
Figures 31 and 32 are elevational views to illustrate the transfer of a bottle
from
the bottle transfer to the workpiece conveyor;
Figure 33 is an elevational view similar to Figure 31 and illustrating the
transfer
of a bottle from the workpiece conveyor to a bottle steady apparatus of the
present invention;
Figures 33A, 33B, 33C, and 33D are illustrations of the sequence of the
transfer
support of a bottle from a bottle transfer to the bottle steady apparatus of
the present invention;
Figure 34 is a front elevational view of a vertical bottle carrier forming
part of the
bottle steady apparatus of the present invention;
Figure 35 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXV-XXXV of Figure 34;
Figure 36 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXVI-XXXVI of Figure 34;
Figure 37 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXVII-XXXVII of Figure 34;
Figure 38 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXVIII-XXXVIII of Figure 33;
Figure 39 is a plan view taken along lines XXXXIX-XXXIX of Figure33;
Figure 40 is an elevational view taken along lines XXXX-XXXX of Figure 39;
Figure 41 is an illustration of the profile of the cam track for speed control
cam
for part of the bottle steady apparatus of the present invention;
Figure 42 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines XXXXII-XXXXII of
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Figure 38; and
Figure 43 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXXIII-XXXXIII of Figure 42.
Detailed description of the embodiment of the invention
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated a
decorating
machine 10 having a base 11 for supporting a workpiece conveyor 12 to convey
workpieces,
which, for describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
consist of glass bottles.
The bottles each have an elongated longitudinal axis A extending centrally in
a uniformly spaced
relation from the center of the bottle and centered along the elongated length
of the bottle. The
axis A of a bottle is changed from the vertical to the horizontal by bottle
loading equipment L
and remains horizontal while the bottles are conveyed by conveyor 12 along a
plurality of
machine stations which for the purpose of disclosing the present invention
comprise a
registration station R and a plurality of successively arranged decorating
stations of which only
inline decorating stations P 1 and P2 are shown. However, the number of inline
decorating
stations comprises P 1-PN where N is the number of decoratirig stations each
selected to supply
ink of a selected color to form the final decoration on the glass bottle. The
number of inline
machine stations may, if desired, also include a machine station immediately
following each
decorating station for inline curing of applied ink with ultraviiolet/heat
radiation. For the purpose
of disclosing the present invention the decorating machine is provided with
the inline registration
station R and inline decorating stations P 1 and P2. The bottles are advanced
from the last inline
machine station PN to bottle unloading equipment U.
The drive arrangement for the bottle loading equipment L, the decorating
machine
and the bottle unloading equipment U include, as shown in Figures 3-6, a main
drive motor 14
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CA 02464159 2007-03-20
having a drive output shaft connected by a belt 14A to a first line shaft 15
rotatably supported by
spaced apart pillow blocks 15A. Spaced along line shaft 15 are five drive
output pulleys 16, 17,
18, 19 and 20 provided with belts 16A, 17A, 18A, 19A and 20A, respectively.
The belt 20A
extends to a pulley on a second line shaft 21 supported by spaced apart pillow
blocks 21A and
used to drive the bottle loading equipment L and unloading equipment U. For
this purpose, drive
output pulleys 22A and 22B are connected by belts 22C and 22D, respectively,
to drive input
shafts of cone worm drives 22E and 22F for workpiece transfer apparatus
forming part of the
bottle loading equipment L and bottle unloading equipment U. Also driven by
the second line
shaft 21 are sprockets 23A and 23B connected by drive chains 23C and 23D to
sprockets 23E and
23F, respectively, mounted on drive input shafts for supply and delivery
conveyors 24A and 24B,
respectively.
The sprocket 23A, drive chain 23C and sprocket 23E for supply conveyor 24A
supply drive torque to a drive shaft 23G which is transferred by drive
sprocket 23H through an
idler shaft 231 having input and output sprockets connected by chains for
driving a sprocket 23J
mounted on a drive roller 23K. The drive roller 23K is mounted for rotation at
a spaced site from
an idler roller 23L to support an endless belt 24C moving at a constant rate
of travel to advance
undecorated bottles along the course of travel established by the conveyor
belt. Drive shaft 23G
is also provided with a drive gear meshing with a drive gear 23M on an idler
shaft on which there
is also mounted a sprocket for a drive chain 23N used to provide torque to an
input shaft for a
drive 23P. The drive output gear of the drive 23P is mounted to the end of a
timing screw 25
having a helical groove 25A for controlling the advancing movement of the
bottles by the
conveyor as will be described in detail hereinafter.
The sprocket 23B, drive chain 23D and sprocket 23F of the delivery conveyor
24B
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CA 02464159 2007-03-20
supply torque to a drive shaft 23Q which is transferred by meshing drive gears
23R to an idler
shaft 23S having a drive output sprocket 23T connected by a chain to a
sprocket 23U mounted on
a drive roller 23V. The drive roller 23V mounted for rotation at a spaced site
from an idler roller
23W for supporting an endless belt 24D used for discharging decorated bottles
along the course
of travel for handling and shipping. Drive shaft 23Q is elongated to provide a
mounting site for a
sprocket 23X connected by a drive chain 23Y to a cone worm drive 23Z for a
bottle steady
apparatus S. While the bottle supply conveyor 24A utilizes a horizontally
orientated endless belt
24C for supporting bottles, the present invention is equally applicable for
use with other forms of
a conveyor having, for example, bottle carriers to support bottles in
alternative ways which
include, for example, bottle carriers on supply and delivery conveyors
extending along a lateral
side or above the conveyance paths for the bottles.
As shown in Figure 4, the belt 16A connects pulley 16 mounted on line shaft 15
to
an index drive 16B. The index drive 16B as shown in Figure 15 has an output
shaft on which is
mounted a gear 16C meshing with gear 16D provided with a sprocket 16E. A chain
16F
interconnects the sprocket 16E and a sprocket 16G mounted on a registration
drive shaft 16H.
Also mounted on the drive output shaft of index drive 16B is a cam 161 having
a closed cam track
16J containing a cam follower connected by a drive arm 16K to oscillate a
shaft 16L secured as
shown in Figure 14 to a registration head 16M by an arm 16N.
The belts 17A and 19A extend to gear drives 27 and 29, respectively, having
output shafts secured to rotate cams 31 and 32 (Figures 1, 3 and 4). The cams
31 and 32 are
formed with closed cam tracks 31A and 32A also known as face grooves or
positive cams.
Bottles are decorated at each decorating station in an identical fashion by
initiating screen travel
when a bottle arrives at the decorating station. Figure 4 illustrates the cam
tracks 31 A and 32A of
13
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
the respective cams are each constructed to form two bottle decorating cycles
each separated by a
screen dwell cycle. More specifically, cam track 31 A consists of a screen
dwell cycle 31 B, bottle
decorating cycle 31 C, screen dwell cycle 31 B', and a bottle decorating cycle
31 C'. Cam track
32A consists of a screen dwell cycle 32B, bottle decorating cycle 32C, screen
dwell cycle 32B,'
and a bottle decorating cycle 32C'. In the first bottle decorating cycle, the
decorating screens at
each decorating station P 1 and P2 are linearly displaced in one direction
during which decoration
is applied to a bottle at each decorating station. After these bottles are
decorated, the screens
remain stationary during screen dwell cycles and then the screens are
reciprocated in the opposite
direction during which decoration is applied to succeeding bottles at each
decorating station. The
cam tracks 31A and 32A define the precise occurrence of events with respect to
the movement of
the bottles by the workpiece conveyor 12 since the cams 31 and 32 and the
workpiece conveyor
are interconnected in the same drive train and driven by the same main drive
motor 14. Each cam
has a follower in the respective cam track to pivot an oscillating drive
output at each of the
decorating stations as will be discussed in detail hereinafter. The belt 18A
driven by the first line
shaft 15 extends to a pulley 20B mounted on a rotatably supported shaft having
a gear 28 meshing
with a gear 33. Gears 28 and 33 form a speed reduction relationship. Gear 33
is mounted on an
intermediate shaft 34 supported by pillow blocks and having a pulley 35
provided with a belt 36
extending to a pulley 37 mounted on a third line shaft 3 8.
As shown in Figures 3, 5 and 7, line shaft 38 is rotatably supported by two
spaced
apart arms 40 extending from the base 11 in a cantilever fashion and secured
by bolts to the base
of the decorating machine. The outer most ends of the arms 40 are connected to
an elongated
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CA 02464159 2004-04-07
cover plate 41. As shown in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8, secured to each of the arms
40 are spaced
apart spacers 42 that extend horizontally and outwardly in opposite directions
from the arms 40.
The outer ends of the spacers 42 carry vertically extending mounting plates 43
from which
various drive gears project only at the unload end of the conveyor. As shown
in Figures 4 and 5,
the third line shaft 38 is rotatably supported by bearings 44 mounted on
portions of the arms 40
adjacent the base 11 and latterly outwardly of each of the bearings 44 there
is also a bearing
assembly 45 mounted by a carrier bracket 46 to the base 11. "The bearing
assemblies 45 rotatably
support the outer end portions of the third line shaft 38. As shown only in
Figures 4 and 6,
mounted on each of the terminal end portions outwardly of each bearing
assembly 45 of the third
line shaft 38 are worm gears 47. A worm gear 47 near the bottle loading
equipment L meshes
with a gear wheel 48 and the worm gear 47 at the unloading end of the
decorating machine
meshes with a gear wheel 49. The gear wheels 48 and 49 are mounted on drive
shafts 50 and 51,
respectively.
As best shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 spaced apart horizontal carrier supply
disks
52 and 53 are mounted on the inboard and outboard ends, respectively, of drive
shaft 50 and
spaced horizontal carrier return disks 54 and 55 are mounted on the inboard
and outboard ends,
respectively, of drive shaft 51. A pulley 56 is mounted on the third line
shaft 38 and joined by a
drive belt 57 to a pulley 58 mounted on a drive shaft 59 extending
horizontally above the drive
shaft 51. Tension in the drive belt 57 is controllably set by using fasteners
to secure a roller
support arm 57A, Figure 3, rotatably supporting a slack adjusting roller 57B
in a fixed position to
arm 40 for establishing the position for roller 57B to impose a desired
tension on belt 57. As
shown in Figure 6, a drive pinion gear 60 is mounted on the horizontally
extended end of drive
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
shaft 59 and meshes with idler gears 61 and 62, which in turn mesh with idler
gears 63 and 64,
respectively. Idler gear 61 meshes with a drive gear 65 mounted on a support
shaft of a barrel
cam 66; idler gear 62 meshes with a drive gear 67 mounted ori a support shaft
of a barrel cam 68;
idler gear 63 meshes with a drive gear 69 mounted on a support shaft of a
barrel cam 70; and
idler gear 64 meshes with a drive gear 71 mounted on a support shaft of a
barrel cam 72. As
shown in Figures 4 and 7, the barrel cam 66, 68, 70, and 72 are rotatably
supported by bearings
73 carried on the support shafts at opposite ends of the barrel cams. The
bearings 73 are
mounted in suitable apertures formed in the vertically extending mounting
plates 43 such that the
barrel cams can rotate about horizontal axes with the axes of barrel cams 66
and 68 lying in a
common horizontal plane and there below the axes of rotatioin of barrel cams
70 and 72 lie in a
common horizontal plane. Each of the barrel cams 66, 68, 70 and 72 have a
closed cam track
66A, 68A, 70A and 72A which is a continuous groove milled in the cam body
engaged by a
roller attached to a follower for executing movements by horizontal bottle
carriers as will be
described in greater detail hereinafter to provide continuous traveling motion
until interrupted by
a dwell period "D" provided for the printing operation.
As shown in Figures 8 and 12A-12C, the closed cam tracks 66A, 68A, 70A, and
72A receive spaced apart roller parts of cam followers 74 and 75 mounted on
each of a plurality
of discrete and independently moveable horizontal bottle carriers 76. The
details of the
construction of the horizontal bottle carriers are best shown iln Figures 12A-
12C. Each
horizontal bottle carrier is provided with a base cup 77 havirig a shallow
support surface 77A
surrounded by a protruding beveled edge to receive and center the base section
of the bottle for
rotation about the longitudinal central axis A of the bottle. A mouthpiece 78
has a shallow
16
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CA 02464159 2007-03-20
support surface 78A surrounded by a protruding beveled edge to receive and
center the mouth of
a bottle. Mouthpiece 78 is rotatably supported by neck chuck 79 having
diverging support legs
79A and 79B. Leg 79A is selectively positionable along an actuator shaft 80
having teeth 81 for
engaging a releasable latch to allow clamped positioning of the mouthpiece 78
relative to the base
cup 77 at any of diverse sites to accommodate a particular height of a bottle
between the base cup
and mouthpiece. The actuator shaft 80 is slidably supported by spaced apart
linear bearings 82
and 83 mounted on an elongated carrier plate 84. An actuator cam follower 80A
is rotatably
supported by an end portion of shaft 80, which protrudes from the bearing
adjacent the base cup
77 for contact with cam surfaces 85 and 86 of actuator cams (Figure 2) mounted
on the base of
the decorating machine at the entry and deliver ends thereof respectively. The
cam surface 85
increases the distance separating the base cup 77 and the neck chuck 79 to
allow loading of a
bottle between the cup and chuck and similarly at the bottle-unloading site
the cam surface 86
again increases the distance separating the base cup and the neck chuck to
allow removal of the
bottle from the horizontal carrier. The neck chuck 79 is provided with a
linear bearing 87
resiliently supported by a support shaft 88.
As shown in Figures 12A-12C extending from the base cup 77 is a journal 89,
which is rotatably supported by a bearing in an upstanding housing 90. An end
part of the journal
89 is bolted to a crank arm 91 extending perpendicular to the rotational axis
of journa189. The
free end of arm 91 supports a drive roller 92 for rotating the base cup and a
bottle at each of the
decorating stations P 1 and P2. Laterally outwardly from the cam followers 74
and 75 there are
mounting blocks 94A and 94B secured to the bottom surface of the carrier plate
84. The
mounting blocks 94A and 94B support rotatable follower rollers 95A and 95B,
respectively,
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CA 02464159 2004-04-07
which pass into engagement with horizontally aligned cavities 52A and 53A
distributed about the
outer peripheral edges of the supply disks 52 and 53 when carn followers 74
and 75 exit cam
tracks 70A and 72A of the barrel cams 70 and 72. Similarly, the follower
rollers 95A and 95B,
respectively, which pass into engagement with horizontally aligned cavities
54A and 55A
distributed about the outer peripheral edges of horizontal carrier return
disks 54 and 55 when cam
followers exit cam tracks 66A and 68A of the barrel cams 66 and 68.
The horizontal bottle carriers are each sequentially transferred from an
established
positive driving relation with barrel cams 66 and 68 into a positive driving
relation with
horizontal carrier disks 54 and 55 and transferred by horizontal carrier disks
54 and 55 into a
positive driving relation with barrel cams 70 and 72 and thence from barrel
cams 70 and 72 to a
positive driving relation with horizontal carrier disks 52 and 53 and
completing a conveyance
cycle transfer from horizontal carrier disks 52 and 53 into a positive driving
relation with barrel
cams 66 and 68. The cams to disks transfer are always the same and the
transfer from disks to
cams is always the same. The sequence of events for the trar-sfer from disks
to cams is the
reversal of the sequence of events for the transfer from cams to disks. The
bottle carrier transfer
for one end of the bottle carrier is schematically shown in Figures 11 A-11 D
for the disk 53 to
barrel cam 68 via cam followers 95B and 75, and it is to be understood that
the same relationship
between disks 52, cam 66 and cam followers 74 and 95A at the end of the bottle
carrier adjacent
to the decorating machine.
In Figure 1 lA, the cam follower 95B is seated in cavity 53A of disk 53 and
cam
follower 75 resides at the entrance of cam track 68A in barrel cam 68. As
shown in Figure 11 B,
as disk 53 rotates counter clockwise, follower 95B is carried in cavity 53A to
a 12 o'clock
18
. ..-. ._. .. . . ....~...-.n .m.9',%wa~'...xir'rt.,R. ... .. . _.,_... . ....-
-,,. . ... . . ..:. .-,....,.,...._. _ _... . - _._ .....k...-.-
w+e~snr,aa+ss',..s?strt'~..,.,..,,.,...P ..
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
position of disk 53 and the barrel cam 75 rotates in the direction indicated
by an associated arrow
bringing the cam track 68A into a position so that the site for entrance to
cam track 68A is
positioned for entry of follower 75. As shown in Figure 11C, continued
rotation of the disk 53
and barrel cam 68 drives the cam follower 75 into and along cam track 68A of
the cam 68 by
continued advancing movement of follower 95B in cavity 53A while at the same
time the cavity
53A of disk 53 recedes from the cam follower 95B. The bottle carrier transfer
is completed, as
shown in Figure 11D, when the disk wall defining cavity 53A of disk 53 passes
out of contact
with cam follower 95B and at the same time cam follower 75 advances along cam
track 68A of
barrel cam 68 as shown.
As shown in Figures 9, 10, 12B and 12C, a cluster of three spaced apart
inboard
guide rollers 96A, 96B and 96C are rotatably supported by the carrier plate 84
at its end most
closely adjacent the decorating machine and a cluster of three spaced apart
outer guide rollers
97A, 97B and 97C are rotatably supported by the carrier plate 84 at its end
remote to the
decorating machine. As best shown in Figures 9 and 10, secuired to arms 40
extending from the
decorating machine is an endless track plate 98 having a caviity wherein
inboard guide rollers
96A and 96C engage opposed horizontal track surfaces 98A and 98B of the
cavity. Guide roller
96B engages a vertical face surface 98C of the guide track. Secured to each of
the arms 40 and
plate 41 is an endless track plate 99 having a cavity wherein outer guide
rollers 97A and 97C
engage opposed horizontal track surfaces 99A and 99B of the cavity. Guide
roller 97B engages a
vertical face surface 99C of the guide track. The guidance provided by the
cooperation between
the guide rollers 96A, 96C, 97A and 97C which rotate about horizontal axes and
the horizontal
guide surfaces 98A, 98B, 99A and 99B provide load-bearing support for the
horizontal carrier;
19
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
maintain cam followers 74 and 75 engaged with the cam tracks of cam 66, 68, 70
and 72 and
maintain the horizontal carrier in a stable orientation during movement along
the cam track.
Guide rollers 96B and 97B, which rotate about vertical axes, prevent unwanted
displacement of
the horizontal carrier between the guide tracks 98 and 99 in a longitudinal
axis of a bottle when
supported by the horizontal carrier.
As can be seen from Figures 13A-13E, the motion imparted to each of the
discrete
horizontal bottle carriers is made up of three components namely, a continuous
traveling motion
"C", accelerated traveling motion "A", and dwell period "D" vvhich are
identified in relation to the
schematic illustration of cam tracks in segments of barrel cams 66 and 68
upstream and
downstream of a decorating station identified as Pl. In each of the Figures
13A-13E five bottles,
1-5 are shown, in their relative spaced relation during advancement to and
from a dwell period
"D" at a decorating station. As described and shown previously, a cam follower
74 engages in a
closed cam track 66A and cam follower 75 engages in closed cam track 68A. In
Figure 13A, a
vertical line extends between a cam follower 74 and a cam follower 75 to
bottle 1 and intended
schematically to represent that bottle 1 is carried by a horizontal bottle
carrier while advanced by
barrel cams. Similar relations are illustrated concerning bottles 2, 3, 4 and
5. It is assumed for
disclosure purposes that bottle 3 resides at the commencement of a dwell
period "D" at the
decorating station and the cam follower of the decorating machine resides at
the commencement
of the bottle decorating cycle 31 C defined by the cam track 3 l A(Figure 4).
As the barrel cams
66 and 68 rotate in the direction indicated by arrows, bottle 3 remains
stationary with respect to
motion at the decoration station. Bottle 2 is at a site of exiting an
accelerated travel motion "A"
and entering cam track segment providing continuous traveling motion "C". The
cam followers
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
for bottles 1, 4, and 5 reside in cam track segments providing continuous
traveling motion. In
Figure 13A bottles, 2 and 3 are more closely spaced than the relative spacing
between the
remaining bottles. The bottles maintain an equally spaced apart relation as
shown in Figure 13B
where bottle 3 has resided about one-half through the dwell period and bottles
1, 2, 4 and 5 are
advanced by motion imparted by the cam part segments of cams 66 and 68
providing the
continuous travel "C" and the cam follower of the decorating machine resides
midway along the
bottle decorating cycle 31 C defined by cam track 31 A of cam 31. At the end
of the dwell period
for bottle 3 the cam follower of the decorating machine resides at the
conclusion of the bottle
decorating cycle 31C defined by the cam track 31A and as shown in Figure 13 C,
bottles 1, 2, 4
and 5 continue in the cam segment providing continuous travel "C" whereby
bottles 1 and 2 have
moved away from bottle 3 and bottles 4 and 5 have moved toward bottle 3. The
cam followers
for the carrier of bottle 3 are at the entrance of cam track providing
accelerated traveling motion
"A" and the cam followers for the carrier for bottle 4 are at but not in the
segment of the cam
track providing accelerated traveling motion "A".
The cam follower of the decorating machine proceeds into the screen dwell
cycle
31 B defined by cam track 31 A and remains in the screen dwell cycle until the
arrival of a bottle at
the dwell period "D" of the cams 66 and 68. As shown in Figure 12D after
bottle 3 has
progressed in the accelerated traveling motion "A", departing from the dwell
period the cam
followers for the carrier bottle 4 enter the accelerated traveling motion "A"
to rapidly introduce
bottle 4 to the dwell period at the decorating station. In these relative
motions, the distance
between bottles 4 and 5 increases and the distance between bottles 3 and 4
decreases as depicted
in Figure 13E where bottle 4 arrives at the dwell period "D"at decorating
station and bottle 3
21
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
emerges from the segment of the cam track providing acceleration and enters
the segment of the
cam track providing continuous traveling motion "C".
As shown in Figures 2, 10 and 11, as the bottles are supplied by the bottle
loading
equipment L to the decorating machine, each bottle is arranged with the
longitudinal axis A
horizontally orientated when brought into a supported engagement between base
cup 77 and
mouthpiece 78 of a horizontal workpiece carrier 76 and thence advanced to the
registration
station R. As a bottle arrives at the registration station, the di=ive roller
92 on the end of the crank
arm 91 passes into one of four peripherally spaced openings between drive
blocks 30A secured to
a face surface of a gear 30B. The gear teeth of gear 30B mesh with gear teeth
of a gear 30C
mounted on an end portion of registration drive shaft 16A which, as previously
described, is
driven by a chain drive arrangement shown in Figure 15 conriected to an index
drive 16B. The
bottle is rotated about its longitudinal axis by the bottle rotating drive
gear 30B that rotates about
a drive axis of gear 34B. A registration finger 16R is pivotally mounted on a
finger mounting
plate 16S at a predetermined location along a slotted end portion of a
registration arm 16M so
that the registration finger 16R extends into the path of travel of a
registration cavity formed in
the lower base portion of the bottle. The registration arm 16M is secured to
the drive shaft 16L
supported by bearings and driven by the pivot arm 16K as shown in Figure 15 in
response to
oscillations produced by a follower in a closed cam track 16J also known as a
face groove or
positive cam driven by a drive output shaft of index drive 16B. The motion
imparted to the
registration arm 16M moves the registration finger into its operative position
so that when the
registration finger passes into the registration cavity of the bottle,
rotation of the bottle is stopped
thereby, and slippage occurs between the bottle base and the base cup 77 as
the cup continues to
22
__ __
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
rotate to completion of the bottle registration cycle.
A feature of the present invention provides that the clamping pressure applied
by
the mouth piece 78 and base cup 77 against the bottle to hold the bottle in
place on the horizontal
carrier is substantially reduced to a nominal pressure which is only
sufficient to maintain the
position of the bottle on the horizontal carrier during the time the bottle is
rotated at the
registration station R. The release of the clamping pressure on the bottle
greatly reduces the
breakaway frictional driving force by the base cup 77 and the vitreous bottle
material when the
registration finger 16R drivingly engages in registration cavity and stops
rotation of the bottle.
The registration cavity has a reduced wall thickness that is vulnerable to
fracture when impacted
by the registration finger and the continuing force prevents rotation of the
bottle while the gear
30B continues to rotate to a start indexing position. As shown in Figure 14
the diameter of gear
30B is relative smaller than the diameter of gear 30C which produces a speed
up relation causing
the gear 30B to rotate through an angle grater than 360 degrees for each
revaluation of gear 30C.
This is necessary to assure that the rotation of the bottle stops at the same
registration position to
accommodate the random occurring position of the registration cavity in each
bottle arriving at
the registration station. As shown in Figure 16, the reduction to the clamping
pressure is
developed by a cam 30D supported in a cavity of a housing 30E by a vertically
extending pivot
shaft 30F secured the machine frame at a site to present a cam surface 30G
protruding from a
window opening in the housing into the path of travel by a cam follower 80A of
a horizontal
bottle carrier 76. The configuration of the cam surface 30G is designed to
apply a resilient
biasing force axially on the actuator shaft 80 at the exact location where the
horizontal bottle
carrier dwells during the registration process. The resiliently bias force
applied to the cam 30D is
provided by a spring 30H seated at one end in the cavity of a cup shaped
carrier 30J pivotally
23
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
joined to a cantilevered arm section 30DA of the cam 30D and overlying the
housing 30E. The
free end of the spring 30H is retained by a threaded shaft 30K protruding into
the spring's helical
configuration sufficiently to maintain contact by a washer 30L position by a
nut 30M. The shaft
30K is mounted on a bracket 30N by nut members 30P at opposite sides of the
bracket. The nut
members 30P are advanced along the end position of the threaded shaft and
tightened against
opposite sides of the bracket to establish the resilient biasing force
necessary to reduce the
clamping pressure to the desired magnitude. A bolt 30Q is in threaded
engagement with the
cantilevered arm section 30DA and arranged to abut against the overlying face
surface of the
housing 30E. A locknut 30R is used to secure the bolt 30Q at a position, which
limits pivotal
displacement of the cam 30D by the spring 30H.
When bottle rotation is stopped, there is established a predetermined bottle
orientation with respect to the decorating screens because the decoration
screens are also
stationary at a start position at this time so that thereafter bottle rotation
and linear screen
movement are always in a synchronous speed relation. The registration process
is particularly
useful to orientate seam lines extending along opposite sides of a bottle with
respect to the
location of the desired area on the surface of the bottle intended to receive
decoration.
Registration of the bottle is concluded with the orientation of the crank arm
91 such that the drive
roller 92 trails the advancing movement of the horizontal bottle carrier to
each of the decorating
stations. As the drive roller 92 emerges from a slot between the drive blocks
30, the roller 92 is
captured and guided by spaced apart guide rails 93A and 93B. These guide rails
extend along the
course of travel by the drive roller 92 throughout the indexing movement by
the conveyor to
thereby maintain registration of the bottle at each decorating station. As
shown in Figures 2 and
14, the guide rails 93A and 93B form an endless path to capture the roller 92
and thereby guide
24
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
the crank arms 91 of each of the horizontal bottle carriers. However, at each
of the decorating
stations P 1 and P2 the continuity of the guide rails 93A and 93B are
interrupted by a gap wherein
a rotator assembly 136 is located to receive and rotate the bottle. Downstream
of each decorating
station are outwardly protruding collector rail portions 93A and 94A that
return the roller and
crank arm to the gap between guide rails 93A and 93B as the conveyor operates
to advance
bottles after completion of the decorating cycles.
At each of the decorating stations P 1 and P2, the arrangement of apparatus is
identical. As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8, it can be seen that the gear drive
29 has its output drive
shaft connected to rotate the cam 32. A cam track 32A is machined into the cam
32 and received
in the cam track is a cam follower 32D. The cam follower is mounted to a lever
arm 100, which
is in turn secured to the lower end of a vertical shaft 101. The shaft 101 is
supported by spaced
apart bearings, as shown in Figure 8, which are in turn carried by a tubular
column 102 supported
by the base of the decorator machine 10. At the top of the column, 102 there
are superimposed
oscillation arm assemblies 103 and 104. Assembly 103 is made up of a lever arm
105 secured to
shaft 101 and provided with a guideway 106 extending radially of the shaft. In
the guideway
there is arranged a drive bar 107, which can be moved along the guideway by
the threaded portion
of a hand wheel 108. The distance the drive bar 107 is located radially of the
rotational axis of
shaft 101 is controlled by the hand wheel 108. A drive block 109 is mounted on
a portion of the
drive bar 107 projecting vertically above the guideway and reciprocates in an
inverted "U" shaped
slot formed in a drive bar 110. The drive bar is joined to a slide I 11
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
supported in a guideway 112. The slide is held in a slot of guideway 112 by
gib plates 113.
While not shown, the slide 111 protrudes laterally from opposite sides of the
tubular column 102
and is provided with outwardly spaced apart receiver arms 114 and 115. The
receiver arm 114
engages a decorating screen assembly 116 that is reciprocated. by the linear
motion of the slide
111 to thereby reciprocate the decorating screen assembly along the body
portion B 1 of a bottle
for carrying out decorating operations thereon. Assembly 104 includes a lever
arm 119 secured
to shaft 101 and provided with a guideway 120 extending radially of the shaft.
In the guideway
there is arranged a drive bar 121, which can be moved along the guideway by
the threaded
portion of a feed screw operated by a hand wheel 122. The distance the drive
bar 121 is located
radially of the rotational axis of shaft 101 is controlled by the hand wheel
122. A drive block
123 is mounted on a portion of the drive bar 121 projecting vertically
downwardly from the
guideway and reciprocates in a"U" shaped slot formed in a drive bar 124. The
drive bar is
joined to a slide 125 supported in a guideway 112. The slide 125 is held in a
slot of guideway
112 by gib plates 126. The slide 125 protrudes laterally from. opposite sides
of the tubular
column 102, in the same manner as slide 111 protrudes. Similarly, the receiver
arm 115 engages
a decorating screen assembly 118 that is reciprocated by the linear motion of
the slide 125 to
thereby reciprocate the decorating screen assembly along the neck portion N 1
of a bottle for
carrying out decorating operations thereon.
Hand wheels 108 and 122 are used to select a desired stroke for the screen
reciprocation to match the circumferential distance of the bottle, which is to
be decorated. This
matching relationship is critically significant because no relative motion
between the screen
movement and the bottle rotation can be accepted otherwise, smearing, or poor
quality decorating
26
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
will occur. As shown in Figure 8, squeegees 129 and 130 are carried by a
support arm 131 in
positions above the screens 116 and 118, respectively. The squeegee
construction is per se is
known in the art and is shown in United States Patent No. 3,172,357. Each
squeegee includes a
squeegee rubber 132 on the end portion of squeegee positioning cylinder
operated pneumatically
against the force of a return spring thereby to establish line contact between
the screen assembly
116 and 118 and a bottle as the bottle is rotated in a synchronous speed with
linear movement of
the screens. The squeegees are adjustably located by fasteners engaged in a
mounting slot 133
extending along the elongated length of the support arm 131.
At each decorating station there is provided as part of the screen drives, a
drive to
rotate a rotator assembly 136. As shown in Figure 8, the rotator assembly
includes a drive gear
143, which is located beneath lower arm 105 where the teeth of gear 143 mesh
with teeth of an
elongated rack 137. Rack 137 is secured to a slide 138 arranged in a slideway
supported by a
pedestal 142. The slide 138 is constrained in a slideway by gibs 139 to
reciprocate in response to
a driving force imparted to a"U" shaped drive bar 140. The driving force is
imparted by a drive
block 141 mounted in a slot formed in the underside of lower arm 105. Drive
block 141 serves
to convert oscillating motion of lower arm 105 to linear motion of the slide
thereby reciprocating
the rack 137. The teeth of the rack 137 mesh with gear teeth of a drive gear
143 mounted on an
end portion of an arbor 144 which is rotatably supported by a bearing 145
mounted in a bearing
housing secured to a face plate 146 mounted on the base 11. A rotator drive
head 147 is secured
to the end portion of the arbor 144 and formed with a slotted opening 148
extending transverse to
the longitudinal axis about which the arbor 144 rotates. The slotted opening
receives the drive
roller 92 on a bottle carrier 76 as the carrier approaches a dwell position
"D" in the course of
27
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
travel along the decorating machine. When the drive roller 92 is received in
the opening 148, a
driving relationship is established whereby rotation of the rotator head 147
rotates the drive roller
92 and the crank arm 91 for rotating the bottle 360 at the bottle decorating
station.
As shown in Figure 10, at each decorating station where a workpiece carrier is
brought to a dwell period "D" interrupting its course of traveling motion
there is an elongated
riser section 149 representing an elevation increase to guide surfaces 98A and
98B of the guide
98. At the outboard side of the workpiece conveyor there is at each decorating
station an
elongated riser section, not shown, horizontally aligned with an identical
elongated riser section
of guide 98 and representing an elevation increase to guide surfaces 99A and
99B of the guide 99
whereby each workpiece carrier arriving at a decorating station is acted upon
simultaneously by a
riser section at each of the opposite ends of the workpiece carrier. The riser
sections elevate the
bottle carrier and thus the bottle supported thereby a short distance so that
the decorating screens
can freely reciprocate in either direction without impingement contact with
adjacent bottles.
At each of the decorating stations P 1- PN the arrangement of apparatus is
identical. As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8, the gear drive 29 connected to
rotate the cam 32 so
that cam track 32A moves a cam follower 32D which is mounted to a lever arm
100 which is in
turn secured to the lower end of a vertical shaft 101. The shaft 101 is
supported by spaced apart
bearings, as shown in Figure 8, which are in turn carried by a tubular column
102 supported by
the base of the decorator machine 10. At the top of the column, 102 there are
superimposed
oscillation arm assemblies 103 and 104. Assembly 103 is made up of a lever arm
105 secured to
shaft 101 and provided with a guideway 106 extending radially of the shaft. In
the guideway
28
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
there is arranged a drive bar 107, which can be moved along the guideway by
the threaded
portion of a hand wheel 108. The distance the drive bar 107 :is located
radially of the rotational
axis of shaft 101 is controlled by the hand wheel 108. A drive block 109 is
mounted on a portion
of the drive bar 107 projecting vertically above the guideway and reciprocates
in an inverted "U"
shaped slot formed in a drive bar 110. The drive bar is joined to a slide 111
supported in a
guideway 112. The slide is held in a slot of guideway 112 by gib plates 113.
While not shown,
the slide 111 protrudes laterally from opposite sides of the tubular column
102 and is provided
with outwardly spaced apart receiver arms 114 and 115. The receiver arm 114
engages a
decorating screen assembly 116 that is reciprocated by the linear motion of
the slide 111 to
thereby reciprocate the decorating screen assembly along the body portion B 1
of a bottle for
carrying out decorating operations thereon. Assembly 104 includes a lever arm
119 secured to
shaft 101 and provided with a guideway 120 extending radially of the shaft. In
the guideway
there is arranged a drive bar 121, which can be moved along the guideway by
the threaded
portion of a feed screw operated by a hand wheel 122. The distance the drive
bar 121 is located
radially of the rotational axis of shaft 101 is controlled by the hand wheel
122. A drive block
123 is mounted on a portion of the drive bar 121 projecting vertically
downwardly from the
guideway and reciprocates in a "U" shaped slot formed in a dlrive bar 124. The
drive bar is
joined to a slide 125 supported in a guideway 112. The slide 125 is held in a
slot of guideway
112 by gib plates 126. The slide 125 protrudes laterally frorri opposite sides
of the tubular
column 102, in the same manner as slide 111 protrudes. Sirr.iilarly, the
receiver arm 115 engages
a decorating screen assembly 118 that is reciprocated by the linear motion of
the slide 125 to
thereby reciprocate the decorating screen assembly along the neck portion N 1
of a bottle for
29
r.~._r. .
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
carrying out decorating operations thereon.
Hand wheels 108 and 122 are used to select a desired stroke for the screen
reciprocation to match the circumferential distance of the bottle, which is to
be decorated. This
matching relationship is critically significant because no relative motion
between the screen
movement and the bottle rotation can be accepted otherwise, smearing, or poor
quality decorating
will occur. As shown in Figure 8, squeegees 129 and 130 are carried by a
support arm 131 in
positions above the screens 116 and 118, respectively. Each squeegee includes
a squeegee
rubber 132 on the end portion of a. squeegee-positioning cylinder operated
pneumatically against
the force of a return spring thereby to establish line contact between the
screen assembly 116 and
118 and a bottle as the bottle is rotated in a synchronous speed with linear
movement of the
screens. The squeegees are adjustably located by fasteners engaged in a
mounting slot 133
extending along the elongated length of the support arm 131.
At each decorating station there is provided as part of the screen drives, a
drive to
rotate a rotator assembly 136. As shown in Figure 8, the rotator assembly
includes a drive gear
143, which is located beneath lower arm 105 where the teeth of gear 143 mesh
with teeth of an
elongated rack 137. Rack 137 is secured to a slide 138 arranged in a slideway
supported by a
pedestal 142. The slide 138 is constrained in a slideway by gibs 139 to
reciprocate in response to
a driving force imparted to a"U" shaped drive bar 140. The driving force is
imparted by a drive
block 141 mounted in a slot formed in the underside of lower arm 105. Drive
block 141 serves
to convert oscillating motion of lower arm 105 to linear motion of the slide
thereby reciprocating
the rack 137. The teeth of the rack 137 mesh with gear teeth of a drive gear
143 mounted on an
end portion of an arbor 144 which is rotatably supported by a bearing 145
mounted in a bearing
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
housing secured to a face plate 146 mounted on the base 11. A rotator drive
head 147 is secured
to the end portion of the arbor 144 and formed with a slot opening 148
extending transversely to
the longitudinal axis about which the arbor 144 rotates. The slot opening
receives the drive roller
92 on a bottle carrier 76 as the carrier approaches a dwell position "D" in
the course of travel
along the decorating machine. When the drive roller 92 is received in the
opening 148, a driving
relationship is established whereby rotation of the rotator head 147 rotates
the drive roller 92 and
the crank arm 91 for rotating the bottle 360 at the bottle decorating
station.
The continuous conveyance of the bottles as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4 by the
supply conveyor 24A; a bottle transfer 150; and the bottle carrier 76 occurs
with the bottles
arranged in a spaced relation on the supply conveyor 24A with their axes A
vertically orientated
and changed to horizontal orientation by operation of a bottle transfer 150
forming part of the
bottle loading equipment L. The bottle transfer 150 acquires support of each
bottle with its axis
A in a vertical orientation on supply conveyor 24A; reorientates the bottle in
a manner so that its
axis A is in a horizontal orientation; and when the axis A is horizontal or
substantially horizontal
release or otherwise allow engagement and support for the bottle between a
base cup 77 and a
neck chuck 79 of a bottle carrier 76 while passing through a loading station
151. The bottle
carrier remains in the driving relation between followers 95A and 95B
interfitting and drivingly
engaged in aligned cavities 52A and 53A, respectively, of supply disks 52 and
53 to the
registration station, not shown. An example of bottle registration is to
provide a dwell position
for a workpiece along the conveyor 12 where before the first decorating
station P 1 the bottle is
rotated about its longitudinal axis A by a rotator head constructed in the
same manner as rotator
assembly 136 and stopped from rotation when a registration finger engaged in
the registration
cavity
31
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
formed in the lower base portion of the bottle. When rotation of the bottle is
stopped there is
established a predetermined bottle orientation with respect to the decorating
screens.
The bottle transfers 150 and 155, embodying the same construction of parts,
are
located at the opposite ends of the workpiece conveyor 12 for loading
undecorated bottles on the
horizontal bottle carriers 76 and unloading of the decorated bottles from the
horizontal bottle
carriers of the decorating machine. The following description of the
construction of bottle
transfer 150 is equally applicable to the bottle transfer 155 except as
otherwise noted. As
illustrated in Figures 17, 19 and 20, the bottle transfer 150 includes a
rectangular shaped
pedestal 160 having a top wall 161 with one side wall 162 joined with two end
walls 163 and
164. The side wall 162 is secured by bolts 162A to the base 11 at an angular
orientation for
rotational operation of the bottle transfer about an angularly orientated
rotational axis 165 which
as shown schematically by Figure 18 forms an acute angle a with a horizontal
plane 166
containing the axis A of a bottle when orientated for support by a bottle
carrier 76 of the
decorator conveyor 12 and forms an acute angle (3 with a veri:ical plane 167
containing the axis A
of a bottle when orientated for support by either supply conveyor 24A or
delivery conveyor 24B.
The angular orientation of the rotational axis 165 is an important feature of
the present invention
that automatically brings about a change to the orientation of'the axis A of a
bottle from the
vertical plane 167 to the horizontal plane 166 or when desired from the
horizontal plane 166 to
the vertical plane 167. The acute angles a and (3 are preferably each 45
which offers the
advantage of allowing the feed and delivery conveyors 24A and 24B to extend
perpendicularly to
the direction of bottle movement in the decorating machine and at opposite
lateral sides of the
decorating machine.
32
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
The angular orientation of rotational axis 165 is established by using the top
surface of top wall 161 to support a barrel cam 168 that is secured by a
mounting flange 169 to
the top wall 161 by the use of bolts 170. The barrel cam 168 has a closed cam
track 172 and a
hollow interior wherein bearings 173 and 174 are carried in spaced apart
recesses and rotatably
support a drive shaft 175 between a collar 176 and a threaded lock nut 177.
The bearings 173
and 174 support the drive shaft 175 to rotate about an axis 165 in response to
torque applied to
the drive shaft through an overload clutch 178 connected to a drive output
shaft of the cone worm
drive 22E. The cone worm drive is supported by mounting bolts on the bottom
surface of the top
wall 161. As shown in Figure 20, the drive shaft 175 includes a splined
portion 180 projecting
upwardly beyond collar 176 to which there is mounted a control rod carrier 181
having upper and
lower flanges 182 and 183, respectively. A drive hub 184 is secured by a
washer and bolt
assemblies 185 to the drive shaft 175 and to the upper flange 182 of control
rod carrier 181. The
drive hub supports six, angularly spaced apart, bottle grippers 186A-186F
(Figure 21). It is
preferred to utilize six grippers or more in pairs of grippers to reduce the
rotational speed of the
grippers about axis 165 between the bottle supply conveyor 24A and the
workpiece conveyor 12
of the decorating machine andlor the workpiece conveyor 12 and the bottle
delivery conveyor
24B. Six grippers are particularly suitable for inclusion in each of the
bottle loading and
unloading equipment L and U where the decorating machine operates at a bottle
throughput rate
of 200 bottles per minute or more. The grippers 186A-186F are identically
constructed and
supported by angularly spaced apart upstanding clevis 184A forming part of the
drive hub 184.
Each clevis is secured by a pivot shaft 184B to one of carrier arms 187 for
pivotal movement in
discrete planes that are parallel and intersect axis 165.
33
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
Bottle gripper 186A has been identified in Figures 22-25 for describing the
construction of each of the bottle grippers 186A-186F. The carrier arm 187 is
elongated with a
rectangular cross section containing a slot 188 elongated to extend in the
direction of the
extended length of the arm. Beyond the terminal projected end of the slot, the
end of the arm 187
is secured by a mounting fixture 189 to a rectangular carriage 190 to project
in opposite
directions at an angle of 45 to the plane containing pivotal movement of the
carrier arm 187
whereby the bottle gripper is vertically oriented at the supply conveyor 24A
and horizontally
orientated at the workpiece conveyor 12 while angularly rotated about axis
165. The carriage
190 is constructed with a tubular carrier section 191 extending along one
lateral side opposite a
bifurcated tubular carrying section 192 for supporting elongated gripper
support rods 193 and
194, respectively. The gripper support rods 193 and 194 extend in a parallel
and spaced apart
relation with each other and with axis A of a bottle when supported by the
bottle gripper.
Moreover, the axis A of a bottle when supported by the bottle gripper always
forms an angle of
45 to the plane containing pivotal movement of the carrier arm 187. The
gripper support rod
193 is rigidly secured by setscrews 195 to the carrier section 191. On the
lower terminal end
portion of rod 193, there is mounted a C-shaped carrier arm 196 to which is
mounted a wear-
resistant insert 197 having angular surfaces 197A, 197B and 197C for engaging
a hemispherical
portion of the base of a bottle. The upper end of the rod 193, which is
opposite the location of
carrier arm 196, is secured to a carrier arm 198 provided with a wear
resistant insert 199 having a
V-shaped surface 199A to engage and support the neck portioin of a bottle.
At the opposite side of the carriage 190, the rod 194 is pivotally supported
by
spaced apart bearings seated in the bifurcated parts of carrier section 192.
On the lower terminal
34
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
end portion of rod 194 there is rigidly mounted a pivotal carrier arm 205
provided with a wear-
resistant insert 206 in an opposing relation to the C-shaped carrier arm 196.
The pivotal carrier
arm 205 and wear-resistant insert 206 are pivotally displaced about a
rotational axis extending
centrally along the length of rod 194 in response to displacement by a cam
follower 207 carried
by a crank arm 208 secured to a lower terminal end portion of irod 194 beneath
pivotal carrier
arm 205. An upper terminal end portion of rod 194 protruding from carrier
section 192 is rigidly
secured by a link arm 209 to the lower end of a control rod 210, which extends
parallel with the
extended length of rod 194 at one lateral side defined by the length of link
arm 209. The pivotal
carrier arm 205 and link arm 209 also serve as retainer members to maintain
the rod 194
pivotally engaged by the carrier section 192. The link arm 209 forms part of a
geometric link for
imparting pivotal movement by rod 194 to a generally planar support face 211
of a wear-resistant
insert 212 on pivotal carrier arm 213 to engage and form a supporting relation
for a neck portion
of a bottle with the V-shaped surfaces 199A of support arm 198. The pivotal
movement of
pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213 are biased in a direction for maintaining
supporting engagement
with a bottle the force for this bias is provided by using the attachment
block 200 as a mounting
structure for a control rod 201 having a threaded end portion extending
through an aperture in a
support lug 202 on carriage 190. The threaded end portion of rod 201 is
engaged with a lock nut
203 that is adjustably positioned along the threaded end portion to apply a
compressive force of a
helical spring 204 surrounding the control rod 201 as the biasing force to
pivotal carrier arms 205
and 213 when engaged with the bottle.
Referring again to Figures 19 and 20, the slot 188 in each of the carrier arms
187
of the grippers 186A-186F receives a slide bar 214 connected by a pivot to a
clevis 215 on an
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
upper end of an actuating rod 216 which is slidably supported by linear
bearings 217 and 218
carried by each of the upper flange 182 and lower flange 183 respectively of
the central rod
carrier 181. The lower end of the actuating rod 216 is secured to a cam
follower 219 residing in
the closed cam track 172 of barrel cam 168. The course of travel by the cam
follower 219 along
the cam track 172 produces a literal reciprocating motion by the actuating rod
216 in a timed
relation with rotation of the bottle gripper about the rotational axis 165. A
control arm 220 is
secured to the actuating rod 216 immediately above the site of cam follower
219 and carries a
linear bearing 221 to guide the control arm 220 to reciprocate along a guide
rod 222 supported by
and extending downwardly from lower flange 183 and thereby prevent unwanted
rotational
movement of the actuating rod 216 about its axis extending in the direction of
its extended
length.
Figure 26 diagrammatically illustrates the reciprocal movement of a gripper
support arm 187 of gripper 186A which is the same as each cam follower 219 of
the gripper
support arms 187 proceeds along the same cam trackl72 of the barrel cam 168. A
BOTTLE
RECEIVING position is identified by a 0 designation point on the barrel cam
track 172 and
established in the transfer cycle by the relation of the gripper support arm
187 extending at a
horizontal position and midway between extreme upward and downward positions.
In the
BOTTLE RECEIVING position, the arm 187 extends in a horizontal plane that is
perpendicular
to the axis A of a bottle while supported on the supply conveyor 24A. The
pivotal carrier arms
205 and 213 assume supporting engagement with a bottle when the cam follower
207 ceases
contact with an arcuate cam surface 225 of a C-shaped cam 226 as shown in
Figure 30. The cam
226 is mounted on a shelf 227 extending horizontally at one lateral side of
the conveyor 24A in
36
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
the direction toward the bottle transfer 150. Immediately prior to the
supporting engagement
between the bottle and pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213, as shciwn in Figure
29, the follower 207
advances along cam surface 225 which operates to maintain pi'votal carrier
arms 205 and 213
pivotally displaced outwardly in a direction away from the V-shaped surface
199A and the
angular surfaces 197A, 197B and 197C, respectively. The delivery of a bottle
to the site where
supporting engagement is established with one of the bottle grippers 186A-186F
is in a timed
relation between advancing movement of a bottle by the conveyor 24A and the
movement of a
gripper to a vertical orientation by passing through a zone where a bottle is
engaged and
supported by the gripper. When alternative forms of supply and delivery
conveyors extend along
a lateral side or above the conveyance, paths for the bottles such as
described hereinbefore, the
reciprocating motion imparted to the bottle grippers 186A-186F of the carrier
arms 187 will
facilitate the receiving and delivery of bottles with such alternative forms
of supply and delivery
conveyors.
As shown in Figure 27, the bottles are advanced along a horizontal guide rail
228
by the conveyor 24A initially with the bottles in an abutting relation until
engagement is
established with the timing screw 25 whereupon the helical groove 25A having
an ever
increasing pitch in the direction of advancing movement by the conveyor
establishes a
correspondingly ever increasing space between the bottles. The pivotal carrier
arm 213 and C-
shaped carrier arm 196 are shown in Figures 27-30, in their generally
horizontal path of travel at
the end portion of the timing screw. In Figure 28, there is illustrated the
carrier arm 196
advanced above the conveyor beyond the bottle undergoing restrained advancing
movement by
the timing screw and held captive by the timing screw and the guide rail 228.
The pivotal carrier
37
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
arm 213 resides at a lateral side of the conveyor while the cam follower 207
which is coupled by
the pivot arm 208 to gripper support rod 194 approaches cam surface 225 of the
C-shaped cam
226. In Figure 29, the timing screw allows continued advancing movement of the
bottle while
the carrier arm 196 moves toward a central position along the conveyor 24A
ahead of the bottle
and the pivotal carrier arm 213 undergoes pivotal movement by engagement by
the cam follower
207 with cam surface 225. Pivotal carrier arm 213 now trails the bottle at a
location above the
conveyor. In Figure 29, the carrier arm 196 advances along the conveyor with
pivotal motion
that operates to orient angular surfaces 197A, 197B, and 197C into a proximal
confronting
relation with the advancing bottle while still restrained by the timing screw.
The relative
movement between the carrier arm 196 and the bottle continues the advancing
movement of the
bottle toward the carrier arm as the follower 207 nears the trailing end
portion of the cam surface
225 which serves to initiate pivotal movement of the pivotal carrier arm 213
toward the side of
the bottle generally opposite the side of the carrier arm 196. As the cam
follower, 207 moves out
of contact with cam surface 225, pivotal carrier arm 213 pivots into contact
with the bottle.
Figure 30 illustrates the moment of release of a bottle from the timing screw
and the
simultaneous establishment of supporting engagement between carrier arm 196
and pivotal
carrier arm 213 that is the BOTTLE RECEIVING position identified as a 0
designation point on
the barrel cam track 172 forming part of the transfer cycle in Figure 26.
As shown in Figure 1 there is a segment of travel by a bottle gripper across a
substantially vertical orientation zone 230 characterized by advancing
movement of the bottle
gripper in a substantially vertical orientation before and after the moment
the bottle gripper
engages the bottle with the axis A vertically orientated. As shown in Figure
26 the CONVEYOR
38
_..w., .._ ~ ~
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
CLEARING segment of travel is part of a zone 230 where the axis A of a bottle
remains
substantially vertical and is produced as the cam follower 219 of a bottle
gripper travels of along
cam track 172 from 0 to 45 which maintains the gripper in a substantially
vertical orientation
and with advancing substantially horizontal movement across the terminal end
portion of the
conveyor 24A. Another part of the zone 230 is an APPROACH CONVEYOR segment
occurring along can track 172 at about 45 prior to 0 by the bottle gripper
movements causing a
substantially vertical orientation of the bottle gripper before the moment
when a bottle is engaged
by the bottle gripper. The APPROACH CONVEYOR segment and the CONVEYOR
CLEARING segment form the entire substantially vertical orientation zone 230.
This course of
travel by the bottle gripper is the result of rotary movement of the gripper
about axis 165 and a
pivotal displacement of the gripper by rod 216 in a vertically upward
direction by the follower
219 movement along cam track 172. The bottle gripper enters the CONVEYOR ENTRY
segment in a substantially vertical. orientation due to the same rotary
movement combined with
the vertically downward movement produced by pivotal displacement of the
gripper by rod 216
in a vertically downward direction by the follower 219 along cam track 172.
From 45 through 90 to 135 the bottle gripper is pivoted downwardly and
then
from 135 through 180 to 225 a bottle on the gripper is pivoted upwardly.
These upward and
downward pivotal motions of the gripper occur simultaneously with the rotary
motion of the
gripper about axis 165. The combined effect is a reorientation of the gripper
whereby the axis A
of a bottle supported by the gripper is changed from generally vertical
orientation to a generally
horizontal orientation. The reorientation is beneficially enhanced by the
action produced by cam
track 172 by providing that the bottle carrier moves across the bottle supply
conveyor 24A with a
39
~,~, s
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
continuous motion characterized by substantially matched speed and direction.
This feature of
the present invention enables the transfer of support for a bottle from the
supply conveyor to the
bottle gripper while the bottle remains in a stable orientation without a
significant change to the
take off speed by the bottle from the conveyor. In a similar fashion, the
combined continuous
motions of the bottle carrier approaching the 180 point along the cam track
produce an approach
by the bottle toward a horizontal bottle carrier 76 in a substantially
horizontal orientation zone
indicated by reference numeral 231 in Figure 2. In the horizontal path the
movement by bottle
carrier slows to a stable horizontal orientation without a significant speed
difference with the
bottle carrier speed. At 180 the bottle is handed off for support by the
decorator conveyor. The
pivotal positioning of the gripper by operation of cam track 172 from 225
through 270 to 315
reorientates the bottle gripper for approach to the supply conveyor 24A along
a substantially
horizontal pathof travel as indicated by reference numeral 230 in Figure 2.
Concurrently with the passage of the bottle along the substantially horizontal
path
of travel 231, there is an increase to the preset separation distance between
the base cup 77 and
mouthpiece 78 of a horizontal bottle carrier 76 by displacement of the
actuator shaft 80 (Figures
12A and 12B) in response to contact between the actuator cam follower 80A and
cam 85 as
previously described as shown in Figures 2 and 7. As the mouthpiece 78 moves
to clamp the
bottle between the mouthpiece and the base cup in response to passage of the
follower 80A
beyond cam 85, the pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213 are displaced from
supporting engagement
with a bottle by contact of the cam follower 207 with an arcuate cam surface
235 of a C-shaped
cam 236 as shown in Figures 31 and 32. The cam 236 is secured by a bracket to
the base 11 of
the decorating machine to strategically reside in the pathway of cam follower
207. As seen in
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
Figure 32 the cam surface 235 is engaged by the cam follower 207 when or at
least immediately
after the bottle is engaged and supported between the base cup 77 and
mouthpiece 78 of a
horizontal bottle carrier 76. The transfer of support occurs when the axis A
of the bottle is
horizontal and residing in horizontal plane 166 and thus completing the change
to the
reorientation of the bottle as shown in Figure 18 from the vertical where the
axis A is
coextensive the vertical plane 167 to the horizontal where the axis A is
coextensive with the
horizontal plane 166. As the bottle is transported by the carrier 76, the
pivotal carrier arms 205
and 213, as shown in Figure 32 are maintained pivotally displaced outwardly in
a direction away
from their respective V-shaped surface 199A and angular surfaces 197A, 197B
and 197C and
thereby avoid interference with the moving carrier 76 and bottle supported
thereby.
Referring now to Figure 33, the bottle transfer 155 at the bottle unloading
equipment U utilizes the cam 236 with cam surface 235 oriented in the manner
of an opposite
hand arrangement to that shown and described in regard to Figures 31 and 32.
This opposite
hand arrangement is characterized by a positioning of the cam 236 along the
path of travel by a
bottle carrier 76 at a site located before the bottle unloading station 154
which is to be compared
with the positioning of cam 236 in the same manner along the path of travel by
a horizontal
bottle carrier at a site located before passage to the bottle loading station
151. At the bottle
unloading station 154, the cam 236 has functioned to pivotally displace the
pivotal carrier arms
205 and 213 in a direction away from the C-shaped carrier arm grippers 196 and
the carrier arm
198 before the horizontal bottle carrier 76arrives at the unloading station
and thereby allow the
grippers to pass along opposite sides of a bottle while supported by a bottle
carrier 76
approaching the bottle unloading station 154. Cam 86 operates to release the
bottle at the
41
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
unloading station at substantially the same time as cam follower 207 passes
downwardly beyond
cam surface 235 causing the pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213 to assume a
supporting
engagement with the bottle. The cam 226A supported by the shelf 227A along the
side of
delivery conveyor 24B operates to move the pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213 in
a direction to
release a bottle from support by the bottle transfer and conveyance by
conveyor 24B. The release
of the bottle by the bottle transfer for conveyance by delivery conveyor 24B
occurs by the
operating position of the cam surface 225A of cam 226A at the side of the
conveyor to engage
the follower 207 when the central axis A of a bottle is centrally disposed
with respect to the
width of the conveyor. The follower 207 pivots the carrier arrn 205 and 213
forwardly in the
direction away from the bottle and the gripper 196 is rotated by the bottle
transfer away from the
bottle as seen by the illustration of Figures 33A and 33B. A vertical bottle
carrier 300 of a bottle
steady apparatus 302 establishes supporting engagement with the bottle by the
time of the bottle
is released from the bottle transfer. Figures 33C and 33D illustrates two
sequential separations
between the bottle as advanced by the vertical carrier and the departing
bottle transfer. The bottle
is advanced linearly in the direction of conveyer 24B which displaces the
bottle beyond the rotary
path of travel by the bottle transfer. The bottle steady apparatus 302 is
provided according to the
present invention to reduce the spacing between consecution bottles delivered
from the
decorating machine by the bottle transfer and the apparatus is particularly
useful to reduce the
linear advancement speed that is necessary to accommodate a bottle-decorating
rate of, for
example, 200, or more bottles per minute. It will be understood by those
skilled in the art that
the moment of inertia acting on each bottle is centered about axis 165 of the
bottle transfer at the
arrival site on the delivery conveyor and therefore is non-linear at the
release site on the delivery
42 .
CA 02464159 2007-03-20
conveyor 24A with respect to the direction of movement by the conveyor. The
bottle steady
apparatus 302 serves the additional function of dissipating the destabilizing
forces acting on the
bottle on the conveyor, which destabilizing forces can be very detrimental
when the bottle
unloading operations occur with continuous motion and capable of relatively
high bottle
throughput operating speed.
Figures 33 - 36 illustrate the details of the construction of the vertical
bottle steady
carriers 300. Each carrier essentially includes a pusher arm 304 with a
mounting arm secured by
a bolt to a vertically arranged base plate 308 at a location so that the
pusher arm can engage the
lower base of a bottle at a site between the conveyer and gripper 196 when
present. Pairs of
upper and lower guide rollers 310 and 312 are mounted by bolts 314 to the base
plate 308 at
outwardly spaced locations from the face surface of the base plate 308 by
spacer sleeves 316. A
slide plate 318 carries parallel guide bars 320 having V-shaped edges
protruding beyond the side
edges of the slide plate and engaged within corresponding-shaped groves in the
face surfaces of
the rollers 310 and 312. The arrangement of parts is such that the plate moves
vertically
downward to displace a vertically biased mouthpiece 322 by a spring and slide
rod mounted on
the slide plate in supporting engagement with a bottle. As shown, the
mouthpiece 322 is
provided with a shallow protruding bevel edge 324 to receive and center the
mouth of a bottle in
the mouthpiece whereby the upper portion of the bottle is restrained and
driven linearly by the
vertical bottle carrier. The mouthpiece 322 is slidably supported on one leg
of an L-shaped arm
326 secured by bolts 328 to the slide plate 318 between the guide bars 320.
The mouthpiece 322
is lower into a engagement with the mouth of a bottle while the bottom of the
bottle is seated onto
a conveyer by a follower roller 330 mounted to the face surface of a slide
plate 318 opposite to
the guide bars
43
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
320. As shown in Figure 40, the follower roller 330 passes along an oval
shaped cam 332 having
a linear cam surface 334 located in a lower plane of two planes established to
position the
mouthpiece 322 in supporting engagement with the mouth of a bottle. A linear
cam surface 336
located in the upper of the two planes establishes an inoperative location for
the mouth piece 322
wherein the mouth piece is advance along the cam track at a elevation above
the mouth of the
bottle. The linear cam surfaces 334 and 336 are joined by transitional cam
segments 338 wherein
the follower roller moves between the two planes and thereby moves into and
out of engagement
with the mouth of the bottle. The bottle steady apparatus 302 further includes
an oval shaped
cam carrier plate 350, an oval shaped upper housing plate 352, and an oval
shaped lower housing
plate 354. Extends from abase plate 356 is a support pedestal 358 provided
with a flange for
securing the pedestal at the central portion of the oval shaped lower housing
plate 354. Three
spacer columns 360 are used to rigidly secure the oval shaped lower housing
plate 354 to the oval
shaped upper housing plate 352. The upper oval shaped housing plate 352
rigidly supports an
array of four upstanding and threaded spindles 361 that extend through
apertures in the oval
shaped cam carrier plate 350 and into threaded engagement with a corresponding
array of four
drive nut assemblies 362 (Figure 38) that are flange mounted to the upper
surface of the oval
shaped cam carrier plate 350. Each of the drive nut assemblies includes a
sprocket 364 coupled
by a endless chain 366 that is also coupled with a drive sprocket 368. The
drive sprocket is
secured to a vertical drive shaft rotatably supported by a flanged mounting on
the oval shaped
cam carrier plate. The drive shaft is joined with a crank arrn 370 which is
rotated to
simultaneously rotate the four drive nut assembly 362 and tliereby alter the
elevation of the oval
shaped cam carrier plate 350 and the cam 332 supported thereon to accommodate
a particular
44
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
height of a bottle between the conveyor and mouthpiece.
The vertical bottle steady carriers 300 are driven about the oval shaped cam
332
by the combination of parallel and spaced barrel cams 372 and 374 extending
horizontally along
opposite sides of the three spacers columns 360. At the ends of the cams 372
and 374, the
vertical bottle steady carriers 300 are transferred by a pair of carrier
return disks 376A and 376B
from barrel cam 372 to barrel cam 374. A pair of carrier supply disks 378A and
378B transfers
the vertical bottle steady carriers from barrel cam 374 to barrel cam 372. The
barrel cams 372
and 374 have closed cam tracks 372A and 374A, respectively that receive the
roller parts of a
cam follower 380 mounted on each of the vertical arranged based plates 308 of
the bottle steady
carriers. As shown in Figures 36 and 37, each of the vertically arranged base
plates 308 is
provided with two pairs of spaced apart guide rollers 382L, 384L, and 386L,
388L at the lower
portion the base plate 308 and two pairs of spaced apart guide rollers 382U,
384U, and 386U,
388U at the upper portion the base plate 308. As best shown in Figure 42, the
downwardly
facing surface 352F of the oval shaped upper housing plate 352 is provided
with an endless
vertical guide track 390 spaced inwardly from an endless horizontal guide
surface 392. The
cavity of the endless vertical guide track 390 receives the guide rollers 382U
and 386U which
have vertically arranged rotational axes and the endless horizontal guide
surface 392 is engaged
by rolling contact the guide rollers 384U and 388U which have horizontally
arranged rotational
axes. The upwardly facing surface 354F of the lower oval shaped housing plate
354 is provided
with an endless vertical guide track 394 spaced inwardly from an endless
horizontal guide
surface 396. The cavity of the endless vertical guide track 3 96 receives the
guide rollers 384L
and 388L, which have vertically arranged rotational axes, and the endless
horizontal guide
. :, ....u . .~ ... ~~
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
surface 394 is engaged by rolling contact the guide rollers 382L and 386L,
which have
horizontally arranged rotational axes. The guidance provided by the
cooperation between the
guide rollers 382L, 386L and 382U, 386U which rotate about vertical axes and
the vertical guide
tracks 390 and 394 provide load-bearing support for the vertical bottle steady
carrier 300;
maintain cam follower 380 engaged with the cam tracks of the barrel cams 372
and 374 and
maintain the vertical carrier in a stable orientation during movement along
the cam tracks. The
guidance provided by the cooperation between the guide rollers 382L, 386L and
384U, 388U
which rotate about horizontal axes and the horizontal guide surfaces 392 and
394 maintain the
vertical carrier in a stable orientation during movement along the cam track
and prevent
unwanted displacement of the vertical carrier between the horizontal guide
surfaces 392 and 394
in a longitudinal axis of a bottle when supported by the vertical carrier.
Figures 36, 37 and 42 illustrate the mounting block 400 secured to the back
surface of
the vertically arranged base plate 308 supporting the upper guide rollers
382U, 284U, 286U, and
388U and similarly, mounting block 402 secured to the back surface of base
plate 308 supports
the lower guide rollers 382L, 384L, 386L, and 388L. Upwardly of the mounting
block 400 is a
mounting block 404 rotatably supporting a follower roller 406 and downward of
mounting block
402 is a mounting block 408 rotatably supporting follower roller 410. The
follower rollers 406
and 410 are orientated to rotate about a vertical axis and pass into
engagement with vertically
aligned cavities 412 and 414 distributed about the outer peripheral edges of
the pairs of carrier
return disks 378A and 378B when cam follower 380 exits cam track 372A of the
barrel cam 372.
Similarly, the follower rollers 406 and 410 pass into engagement with
vertically aligned cavities
416 and 418 distributed about the outer peripheral edges of carrier supply
disks 376A and 376B
46
-_. ..ar
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
when cam followers exit cam track 374A of the barrel cam 374.
The vertical bottle carriers are each sequentially transferred from an
established
positive driving relation with barrel cam 372 into a positive diriving
relation with return disks
376A and 376B and transferred by return disks into a positive driving relation
with barrel cam
374 and thence from barrel cam 374 to a positive driving relation with supply
disks 378A and
378B completing a conveyance cycle. The cams to disks transfers are always the
same to
maintain a continuous supply of vertical bottle carriers 300 for supporting
and decelerating a
bottle during initial travel of the bottle along the delivery conveyor 24B,
i.e. negative
acceleration, the deceleration to the linear speed is accomplish by the
configuration of the closed
cam track surface 372A shown in detail in Figure 41 the cam itrack follows a
course of
continuous deceleration which also functions to reduce the spacing between
adjacent bottle
carriers.
As shown in Figure 1 the distances between consecutive vertical bottle
carriers
300 progressively decreases as the carries move along the length of the barrel
cam 372 and
thereby decrease the speed of the bottle to such an extent that the forward
speed of the bottle
matches the linear speed the conveyor. The carrier return discs rotate at
different constant speeds
which match the delivery and exit speeds of the carriers at the ends of the
barrel cams. The
barrel cam 374 accelerates the speeds of the carriers thus increasing the
distant between the
carriers so that the carrier speed when it driven by the carrier supply discs
376 imparts a traveling
motion corresponding to the velocity of the bottle at the handoff location
between the unloading
bottle transfer and the vertical bottle carrier at the entrance to the cam
track of the barrel cam 374
where upon the cycle is completed. As shown in Figure 38 the drive sprocket
23R drives a
47
CA 02464159 2004-04-07
sprocket 450 that is joined by the chain 452 to a sprocket on an input shaft
of a cone worm drive
454. The drive 454 is connected through an overload clutch 456 to a drive
shaft 458 that is
mounted to rotate the supply discs 378A and 378B. A pulley mounted on shaft
358 is joined by a
drive belt 460 to a pulley 462 mounted on a drive shaft 464 to rotate the
return discs 376A and
376B. Details of a bevel gear drive for the barrel cams and disks are shown in
Figures 42 and 43.
Shaft 457 drives a spur gear 465 that meshes with a spur gear 466 mounted on a
vertical drive
shaft 467. A bevel drive gear 468 is mounted on shaft 467 and meshes with a
bevel drive gear
468 mounted on a line shaft 470. The line shaft 470 drives spaced apart bevel
gears 474 and 476,
which in turn mesh with bevel gears 478 and 480, respectively, mounted on a
drive shaft joined
with the barrel cams 372 and 374, respectively.
While the present invention has been described in connection with the
preferred
embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar
embodiments may be
used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment
for performing
the same function of the present invention without deviating tlhere from.
Therefore, the present
invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather construed
in breadth and
scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.
48
