Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHANGING THE ORIENTATION OF WORKPIECES
ABOUT AN ANGLED AXIS FOR A DECORATOR
This application is a division of copending, commonly owned, Canadian Patent
Application No.
2,418,344 of July 23, 2001.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to workpiece supply and delivery systems
situated upstream and
downstream ofthe flow of a workpiece through one or more decorating stations
of a decorating machine and,
more particularly, to construction and operation of a workpiece transfer
mechanism designed to operate about
an angled axis for automatically changing a vertical to horizontal or a
horizontal to vertical orientations of
the workpieces with continuous motion or, if desired, intermittent motion.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Patents 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 conveyor chain provided with workpiece carriers
used to supply workpieces
such as a bottle made of glass or plastic. A chain conveyor disclosed in U.S.
Patent No. 3,388,574 is
provided with workpiece carriers arranged in a side-by-side relation and used
for supporting each bottle in
a horizontal orientation while intermittently moved along a path of travel
through a decorating apparatus.
The bottle is supported at its opposite ends by clamping chucks one of which
is driven by a crank arm on a
journal extending from a bearing support and the other clamping chuck is
moveable to releasably engage and
rotatably support the bottle about a horizontal axis extending along the
extended length of the bottle. The
bottle is rotated by a drive member brought into a driving relation with the
crank arm on the protruding
journal from the bearing support. The clamping chucks are operatively
supported on a base which is secured
to chain-links forming the endless conveyor chain extending along the path of
travel of bottles through the
decorating machine.
In intermittent motion decorating machines, a bottle is moved by the endless
chain conveyor through
a predetermined distance, stopped, moved again through a predetermined
distance, stopped and again moved
until each bottle advances by the sequence of motions completely through all
of the decorating stations of
the decorating machine. A decorating station will be provided at one or more
places where the bottle comes
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to a stop. The decorating cycle is essentially made up of two equal parts. One
half of the decorating cycle
is used for the decoration and the remaining half of the cycle is used for the
indexing movement of the bottle
through the decorating machine. There was no overlap between the decorating
and indexing cycles.
At each decorating station while the bottle is stopped from 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
contact established by a squeegee with 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 moved from the decorating station and an undecorated bottle is
positioned at the decorating station.
Thermosetting ink was usually the printing medium in decorating machines,
particularly when
multiple color decoration was desired. Ink of only one color is applied at
each decorating station and to
decorate with multiple colors requires a multiple of corresponding decoration
stations. When the different
colors interleave in a given area of the bottle, because the same area is
contacted with a screen for each color
it is necessary that the applied ink/color is a solid and will not smear when
additional ink/color is applied.
Although the thermosetting ink is solidified after each printing operation, it
is necessary to cure the ink by
feeding the bottles through a furnace after discharging from the decorating
machine. In commonly owned
Canadian Patent No. 2,243,806 granted December 23, 2003 there are disclosed a
decorating method and
apparatus to allow curing of ink decoration applied at one decorating station
before additional decoration is
applied. The dwell period of the intermittent advancing motion by the conveyor
chain is used to apply
decoration and to cure the applied decoration all at different spaced apart
sites along the course of travel by
the bottles in the decorating machine. All the decoration on a bottle
delivered from the decoration machine
can be cured so that the bottles can be loaded directly into a shipping
container.
As disclosed in U.S. 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 has 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 machine
is disclosed in commonly
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owned Canadian Patent No. 2,354,082 granted October 18, 2005 and notably
includes the use of elongated
barrel cams and transfer disks arranged to provide a continuous traveling
motion to workpiece carriers which
is interrupted only at each decorating station and, when provided, at each
curing station.
An alterative to an intermittent motion decorating machine is a continuous
type motion decorating
machine as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 3,251,298 to decorate a
bottle during continuous,
uninterrupted, linear travel on a conveyor along one or more spaced apart
decorating stations. It is necessary
to match the speed of the linear advancement of a squeegee at a decorating
station with the linear speed of
advancement of the bottle by the conveyor and match the speed of the
peripheral speed of the bottle with the
linear speed of a decorating screen. The occurrences of speed matching are
required at each decorating
station in the machine. The continuous motion of the conveyor eliminated the
need for an indexer box to
provide the intermittent motion by the conveyor in an intermittent motion
decorating machine.
In U.S. Patent No. 3,407,915 a main conveyor is constructed to reorientate
workpieces from the
generally vertical position to a generally horizontal position for
registration and decoration and then back
to a generally vertical position for discharge from the main conveyor. Unlike
conventional conveyors for
decorating machines, the conveyor has two functions, that is, its normal
function of conveying the
workpieces through the decorating machine and the additional function of
reorienting the workpiece from
a vertical position to a horizontal position and then back to a vertical
position. The combination of the two
functions sought to eliminate the need for additional equipment to reorientate
the supply of bottles to and
from the conveyor of the decorating machine.
U.S. Patent No. 3,648,821 discloses a workpiece transferring apparatus to
transfer workpieces
individually from a supply conveyor to a decorator conveyor where decoration
is applied while the
workpieces are horizontally oriented in an intermittent type decorating
machine and thence from a decorator
conveyor to a delivery conveyor in which the transfer operations produce
horizontal to vertical reorientations
of the workpieces. The change to the workpiece orientation also occurs between
a conveyor supplying
bottles in a vertical orientation and the conveyor supplying the bottled in a
horizontal orientation to a
decorating machine. Each workpiece is repositioned by rotary type movements
about two perpendicular and
intersecting axes, one of which is the rotational axis of a rotary support
shaft extending parallel with the
rotational axes ofthe drive sprockets for the chain conveyor. The mass of
material comprising the workpiece
and support structure undergoing the rotary type movements limits the
operating speed. Workpiece handling
equipment disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,524,535 enables an increase to the
workpiece handling rate by a
design of structural parts eliminating pivot arms positioned by a spring to
reduce an adverse effect of inertia.
Captive restraints hold each workpiece during transfer from a feed conveyor to
the conveyor of the
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decorating machine and from the conveyor of the decorating machine to the
delivery conveyor.
The invention of the parent application discloses a workpiece transfer
including the combination of:
a transport conveyor for carrying workpieces having an elongated longitudinal
axis, the conveyor supporting
each workpiece with the elongated longitudinal axis in a vertical orientation;
a decorator conveyor including
spaced apart workpiece carriers to support a workpiece for rotation about the
longitudinal axis of the
workpiece in a horizontal orientation; at least one workpiece gripper for
supporting the workpieces during
changing of the orientation thereof from a first orientation to a second
orientation wherein a workpiece in
the first orientation has the longitudinal central axis thereof orientated in
one of the vertical orientation and
the horizontal orientation and in the second orientation has the longitudinal
central axis in the other of the
vertical orientation and the horizontal orientation; and a drive to
reciprocate and rotate the workpiece gripper
about a rotational axis forming acute angles with the longitudinal central
axis of a workpiece between each
of the vertical orientation and the horizontal orientation.
The parent application also provides a workpiece transfer to load and unload
workpieces for a
decorating machine, the workpiece transfer including the combination of: a
transport conveyor for carrying
workpieces having an elongated longitudinal axis, the conveyor supporting each
of the workpieces with the
elongated longitudinal axis in a vertical orientation; a decorator conveyor
including spaced apart workpiece
carriers to support a workpiece for rotation about the longitudinal axis of
the workpiece in a horizontal
orientation; a plurality of workpiece grippers pivotally supported at
angularly spaced apart sites by a drive
hub for supporting the workpieces during changing of the orientation thereof
from a first orientation to a
second orientation wherein a workpiece in the first orientation has a
longitudinal central axis orientated in
one of a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation and in the second
orientation has the longitudinal
central axis in the other of the vertical orientation and the horizontal
orientation; a drive secured to the drive
hub for rotation of the workpiece grippers about a rotational axis forming
acute angles with the longitudinal
central axis of a workpiece in each of the vertical and horizontal
orientations; and control rods moveable in
the direction of the rotational axis for controlling receiving and delivery of
workpieces when the longitudinal
central axes thereof are at each of the first orientation and the second
orientation.
In yet another iteration, the parent application provides a workpiece transfer
including the
combination of: a transport conveyor for carrying workpieces having an
elongated longitudinal axis, the
conveyor supporting each of the workpieces with the elongated longitudinal
axis in a vertical orientation;
a decorator conveyor including spaced apart workpiece carriers to support a
workpiece for rotation about the
longitudinal axis of the workpiece in a horizontal orientation; a plurality of
workpiece grippers on a drive
hub for supporting the workpieces during movement of the longitudinal axis
thereof between the horizontal
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orientation and the vertical orientation; a drive shaft secured to the drive
hub to rotate about an axis forming
acute angles with the longitudinal axis of a workpiece in each of the
horizontal orientation and the vertical
orientation; pivots extending in a plane perpendicular to the axis about which
the drive shaft rotates for
pivotally connecting the plurality of workpiece grippers at angularly spaced
apart sites to the drive hub; and
control rods for pivotally displacing the workpiece grippers about the pivot
thereof in a direction generally
parallel with the axis about which the drive shaft rotates for controlling the
delivery and reception
orientations of workpieces with respect to the transport conveyor and the
decorator conveyor.
Additionally, the parent application provides a method for loading and
unloading workpieces for a
decorating machine, the method including the steps of: :arranging a transport
conveyor to support workpieces
each having an elongated longitudinal axis in a vertical orientation;
arranging a decorator conveyor having
spaced apart workpiece carriers each to support a workpiece for rotation about
the elongated longitudinal
axis of the workpiece in a horizontal orientation; releasably gripping a
workpiece for changing the orientation
thereof from a first orientation to a second orientation wherein the workpiece
in the first orientation has the
longitudinal central axis orientated in one of vertical orientation or
horizontal orientation and in the second
orientation has the longitudinal central axis in the other of the vertical
orientation or horizontal orientation;
rotating the gripped workpiece about a rotational axis forming acute angles
with the longitudinal central axis
of a workpiece in each of the vertical and horizontal orientations; and
pivotally displacing the gripped
workpiece in a plane generally parallel with the rotational axis to control
receiving and delivery of the
workpiece as the longitudinal central axis thereof approaches each of the
first orientation and the second
orientation.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a workpiece transfer to
load and unload
workpieces for a decorating machine, said workpiece transfer including the
combination of: at least one
workpiece gripper for supporting a workpiece during changing of the
orientation thereof from a first
orientation to a second orientation wherein the workpiece in the first
orientation has a longitudinal central
axis orientated in one of a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation
and in the second orientation has
the longitudinal central axis in the other of the vertical orientation and
horizontal orientation; and a drive to
reciprocate the workpiece gripper and the workpiece gripped thereby generally
parallel with a rotational axis
while rotating the workpiece gripper and the workpiece gripped thereby about
the rotational axis, the
rotational axis forming acute angles with the longitudinal central axis of the
workpiece in each of the vertical
orientation and the horizontal orientation.
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According to the present invention there is also provided a workpiece transfer
to load and unload
workpieces for a decorating machine, said workpiece transfer including the
combination of: a plurality of
workpiece grippers pivotally supported at angularly spaced apart sites by a
drive hub for supporting the
workpieces during changing of the orientation thereof front a first
orientation to a second orientation wherein
a workpiece in the first orientation has a longitudinal central axis
orientated in one of a vertical orientation
and a horizontal orientation and in the second orientation has a longitudinal
central axis in the other of the
vertical orientation and the horizontal orientation; a drive secured to the
drive hub for rotation of the
workpiece grippers about a rotational axis forming acute angles with the
longitudinal central axis of the
workpiece in each of the vertical and horizontal orientations; and control
rods for displacing the grippers
generally parallel with the rotational axis to control receiving and delivery
of workpieces when the
longitudinal central axes thereof in at each of the first orientation and the
second orientation.
The present invention also provides a method for loading and unloading
workpieces for a decorating
machine, said method including the steps of: releasably gripping a workpiece
for changing the orientation
thereof from a first orientation to a second orientation wherein a workpiece
in the first orientation has a
longitudinal central axis orientated in one of vertical or horizontal
orientations and in the second orientation
has the longitudinal central axis in the other of the vertical or horizontal
orientation; rotating the gripped
workpiece about a rotational axis forming acute angles with the longitudinal
central axis of the workpiece
in each of the vertical and horizontal orientations; and displacing the
gripped workpieces in a plane generally
parallel with the rotational axis with the step of rotating to control
receiving and delivery of the workpiece
as the longitudinal central axis thereof approaches each of the first
orientation and the second orientation.
Finally, the present invention also provides a workpiece transfer including
the combination of: a
transport conveyor for carrying workpieces having an elongated longitudinal
axis, the conveyor supporting
each of the workpieces with the elongated longitudinal axis in a vertical
orientation; a decorator conveyor
including spaced apart workpiece carriers to support a workpiece for rotation
about the longitudinal axis of
the workpiece in a horizontal orientation; a plurality of workpiece grippers
for supporting the workpieces
during movement of the longitudinal axis thereof between the horizontal
orientation and the vertical
orientation; and a drive to reciprocate the workpiece grippers and the
workpiece gripped thereby generally
parallel with a rotational axis while rotating the workpiece grippers and
workpiece gripped thereby about the
rotational axis, the rotational axis forming acute angles with the
longitudinal central axis of the workpiece
in each of the vertical orientation and the horizontal orientation.
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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 I is a plan view of an intermittent decorating machine having
individually movable workpiece
carriers for workpieces supplied and delivered according to the method and
apparatus of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a front elevational view taken along lines II--II of 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 shown in Figure 1;
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 11A, 11 B, 1 l C and 11 D are displacement diagram views illustrating
the timing sequence
for the conveyance control of a bottle carrier during transfer from a transfer
disk to a barrel cam;
Figure 12A is a plan view of a bottle carrier taken along lines XII--XII of
Figure 8;
Figure 12B is a side elevational view of the bottle carrier shown in Figure
12A;
Figure 12C is a bottom plan view of the bottle carrier shown in Figure 12A;
Figure 13 is an elevational view of the bottle unloading equipment embodying
the present invention;
Figure 14 is a geometric diagram illustrating the reorientation of a bottle
from vertical to horizontal
by operation of the loading/equipment shown in Figure 13;
Figure 15 is an end elevational view taken along lines XV--XV of Figure 13;
Figure 16 is a sectional view taken along lines XVI--XVI of Figure 13;
Figure 17 is a plan view taken along lines XVII--XVII of Figure 16;
Figure 18 is a front elevational view of a bottle gripper taken along lines
XVIII--XVIII of Figure 17;
Figure 19 is a rear elevational view of the bottle gripper shown in Figure 18;
Figure 20 is a sectional view taken along lines XX--XX of Figure 19;
Figure 21 is a sectional view taken along lines XXI--XXI of Figure 19;
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Figure 22 diagrammatical illustrates the pivotal displacement of a bottle
gripper by a cam drive;
Figures 23-26 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 27 and 28 are elevational views to illustrate the transfer of a bottle
from the bottle transfer
to the workpiece conveyor;
Figure 29 is a plan view similar to Figure 5 and illustrating a second
embodiment of a drive for
imparting intermittent motion to the workpiece transfer disks independent of
continuous rotation by the barrel
cams;
Figure 30 is a sectional view taken along lines XXX--XXX of Figure 29;
Figure 31 is a front elevational view similar to Figure 2 and illustrating a
modified form of conveyor
utilizing chains for intermittently advancing bottles along a decorating
machine;
Figure 32 is a schematic drive layout for the conveyor shown in Figure 31; and
Figure 33 is a sectional view taken along lines XXXIII--XXXIII of Figure 31
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
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 the purpose of describing
the preferred embodiment of the present invention, consist of 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 three successively arranged decorating stations P1, P2 and P3. The
bottles are advanced from the
last decorating station P3 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 Figures3-6, a main drive motor 14
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 21 A 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
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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
23E for supply conveyor 24A supplies 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 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 bottles by the
conveyor as will be described
in greater detail hereinafter. The sprocket 23B, drive chain 23D and sprocket
23F of the delivery conveyor
24B supply torque to a drive shaft 23 Q which is transferred by meshing drive
gears 23R to an idler shaft 23 S
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 discharge decorated bottles along the course of travel for
handling and shipping. While
the bottle supply conveyor 24A and the bottle delivery conveyor 24B utilize
horizontally orientated endless
belts 24C and 24D, respectively, for supporting bottles, the present invention
is equally applicable for use
with other forms of conveyors 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.
The belts 16A, 17A and 19A extend to gear drives 26, 27 and 29, respectively,
having output shafts
secured to rotate cams 30, 31 and 32 (Figures 1, 3 and 4). The cams 30-32 are
formed with closed cam tracks
30A, 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 30A, 31 A and 32A of the respective cams
are each constructed to form
two bottle decorating cycles each separated by a screen dwell cycle. More
specifically, cam track 30A
consists of a screen dwell cycle 30B, bottle decorating cycle 30C, screen
dwell cycle 30B' and a bottle
decorating cycle 30C'. Cam track 31 A consists of a screen dwell cycle 31 B,
bottle decorating cycle 31 C,
screen dwell cycle 1B' and a bottle decorating cycle 31C'. 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
l, P2 and P3 are linearly displaced
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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 30A, 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 30-32 and the
workpiece conveyor are drivingly
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 greater 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 38.
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 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 carrier supply disks 52 and
53 are mounted on the
inboard and outboard ends, respectively, of drive shaft 50 and spaced apart
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 5 7A, Figure 3, rotatably supporting a slack
adjusting roller 5 7B 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
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Figure 6, a drive pinion gear 60 is mounted on the horizontally extended end
of drive 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 on 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 rotation 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 workpiece
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 bottle carriers 76. The details of the construction of the bottle
carriers are best shown in Figures
12A-12C. Each bottle carrier is provided with a base cup 77 having a shallow
support surface 77A
surrounded by a protruding beveled edge to receive and center the base section
of the bottle. A mouthpiece
78 has a shallow 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 adj acent 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
carrier. The neck chuck 79 is provided with a linear bearing 87 resiliently
supported by a support shaft 88.
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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 journal 89. 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, P2 and P3. 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, 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 cam 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 carrier return disks 54 and 55 when cam followers exit cam tracks 66A and
68A of the barrel cams 66 and
68.
The bottle carriers are each sequentially transferred from an established
positive driving relation with
barrel cams 66 and 68 into a positive driving relation with carrier disks 54
and 55 and transferred by 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 carrier disks 52 and 53 and
completing a conveyance cycle transfer
from carrier disks 52 and 53 into a positive driving relation with barrel cams
66 and 68. The cams to disks
transfer is always the same and the transfer from disks to cams is always the
same. The sequence of events
for the transfer 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 11A-11D
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 11A, 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 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 11 C,
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
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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, secured
to arms 40 extending from the decorating machine is an endless track plate 98
having a cavity 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 carrier; maintain cam followers 74 and 75 engaged
with the cam tracks of cam
66, 68, 70 and 72 and maintain the 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 carrier
between the guide tracks 98 and 99 in a longitudinal axis of a bottle when
supported by the carrier.
At each decorating station P 1, P2 and P3 the arrangement of apparatus is
identical and station P3 is
selected for the following description of the construction and operation. 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 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
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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 1 l 1 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 Nl 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 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 housing
secured to a face plate 146 mounted on the base 11. A rotator drive head 147
is secured to the end portion
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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.
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 150 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 150 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.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention features a continuous motion
of the bottles
throughout conveyance by supply conveyor 24A; a bottle transfer 150; and the
bottle carrier 76. In Figures
1, 2 and 4 the bottles are 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 147 and
stopped from rotation when a registration finger engaged in the registration
cavity 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.
CA 02614637 2008-01-11
The predetermined bottle orientation establishes a predetermined registration
of the workpiece with
respect to the decorating screens at each of the spaced apart decorating
stations. The registration process is
particularly useful to orient seam lines extending along opposite sides of a
bottle with respect to the location
of the desired area for decoration. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, 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 bottle
carrier to the decorating stations. As the drive roller 92 emerges from a slot
in the rotator drive at the
indexing station, the drive roller 92 is captured and guided by spaced apart
guide rails 152 and 153. These
guide rails extend along an endless path of travel by the drive roller 92
throughout the endless circulating
movement of the workpiece carriers to thereby control the orientation of the
crank arm and maintain
registration of the bottle at each decorating station. At each of the
decorating stations P1, P2 and P3 the
continuity of the guide rails 152 and 153 are interrupted by a gap wherein a
drive rotator 147 member is
located to receive and rotate a bottle. Downstream of each gap in the guide
rails 152 and 153 are outwardly
protruding collector rail portions 152A and 153A that return the roller and
crank arm to the gap between
guide rails as the barrel cams 66 and 68 operate advancing the bottles after
completion of the decorating to
an unloading station 154. According to the preferred embodiment of present
invention, the unloading station
154 includes a bottle transfer 155 to acquire support of a bottle with its
axis A in a horizontal orientation and
located between the base cup 77 and the neck chuck 79 of a bottle carrier 76
while passing through the
unloading station 154 by operation of the carrier disks 54 and 55. The bottle
transfer 155 operates with
continuous motion to reorientate the bottle in a manner so that its axis A is
in a vertical orientation and when
the axis A is vertical release the bottle to allow conveyance by the delivery
conveyor 24B.
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 bottle carriers 76 and
unloading of decorated bottles from 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 13, 15 and 16, the bottle transfer 150
includes a rectangularly 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 14
forms an acute anglea 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
anglep with a vertical 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
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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 0 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.
The angular orientation of rotational axis 165 is established by using the top
surface of top wall 161
to support a barrel cam 168 which 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 16, 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 17). 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 and/or 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 anns 187 for pivotal movement in discrete planes that are
parallel and intersect axis 165.
Bottle gripper 186A has been identified in Figures 18-21 for the purpose of
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
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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 set
screws 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 portion 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
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 rod 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 which
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 15 and 16, 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
upper end of an actuating rod
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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 22 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 track 172 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 26.
The cam 226 is mounted on
a shelf 227 extending horizontally at one lateral side of the conveyor 24A in
the direction toward the bottle
transfer 150. Immediately prior to the supporting engagement between the
bottle and pivotal carrier arms
205 and 213, as shown in Figure 25, the follower 207 advances along cam
surface 225 which operates to
maintain pivotal 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 23, 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
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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 23-26, in their
generally horizontal path oftravel
at the end portion of the timing screw. In Figure 24, 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 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 25 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 25, 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 26 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
which 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 22.
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 22 the CONVEYOR 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
CA 02614637 2008-01-11
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 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 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 path of travel as indicated by reference numeral 231 in Figure 2.
Concurrently with the passage of the bottle along the substantially horizontal
path of travel 231, there
is an increase to preset separation distance between the base cup 77 and
mouthpiece 78 of a 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 27 and 28. The cam 236 is secured by a bracket to the base 11 of
the decorating machine to
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strategically reside in the pathway of cam follower 207. As seen in Figure 28
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 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 14 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 28
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. 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 as shown
and described in regard to
Figures 27 and 28. The opposite hand arrangement is characterized by
positioning of the cam 236 along the
path of travel by a bottle carrier at a site in advance of the bottle
unloading station 154 which is to be
compared with the positioning of cam 236 along the path of travel by a bottle
carrier at a site after passage
from the bottle loading station 151. At station 151 cam 236 functions to
pivotally displace the pivotal carrier
arms 205 and 213 in a direction away from grippers 196 and 198 before the
bottle carrier arrives 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
unloading station at substantially the same time as cam follower 207 passes
beyond cam surface 236 causing
the pivotal carrier arms 205 and 213 to assume a supporting engagement with
the bottle. The cam 226
supported by the shelf 227 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 from a bottle carrier for conveyance by
delivery conveyor 24B occurs by
arranging cam 226 along the side of the conveyor at a position so that the
follower 207 engages cam surface
225 when the central axis A of a bottle is centrally disposed with respect to
the width of the conveyor
whereupon pivoting of the pivot carrier arm 205 and 213 allow the conveyor to
advance the bottle away from
gripper 196 while at the same time pivotal carrier arm 205 pivots away from
the bottle.
The bottle transfers 150 and 155 of the present invention are also useful for
supplying and
transferring of bottles to a workpiece conveyor of a decorating machine while
the bottle transfer sites are
stationary in a dwell period of intermittent advancing motion. Figures 29 and
30 illustrate a modification
to the drive system for providing intermittent rotational movements to each of
the carrier supply disks 52 and
53 and the carrier return disks 54 and 55. The description accompanying the
use of reference numerals
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appearing in Figures 5 and 6 is equally applicable but not reproduced here in
regard to the like numerals
appearing in Figures 29 and 30. The pulley 37 is driven by a belt and mounted
on a third line shaft 38A
which is rotatably supported by bearings 44. Outwardly beyond the bearings 44,
each end of the third line
shaft 38A is joined by couplings 250 and 251 to index drive units 252 and 253,
respectively. The index drive
units have drive output shafts directly coupled to drive shafts 50 and 51,
respectively. By this drive
arrangement, the third line shaft delivers continuous rotary motion to belt 57
for continuously rotating the
barrel cams 66, 68, 70 and 72 while the carrier supply disks 52 and 53 and the
carrier return disks 54 and 55
are intermittently rotated in response to the operation of the index drive
units 252 and 253. While not shown
in the drawings, it is to be understood that the cone worm drives 22E for the
bottle transfer 150 and the cone
worm drive 22F for the bottle transfer 155 will be replaced by index drive
units to execute dwell periods in
a timed relation with the dwell periods formed by the index drive units 252
and 253. In this way as a bottle
is supported by a gripper on conveyor 24A there will be a dwell period while
support for a bottle occurs on
a bottle carrier 76 at the loading station 151. Similarly, during the same
dwell period support for a bottle
occurs by a bottle gripper at unloading station 154 and a bottle is released
for support by conveyor 24B by
a bottle transfer.
Figures 31, 32, and 33 illustrate a further modified form of a workpiece
conveyor for transporting
workpieces in the decorating machine 10 by intermittent motion. The
description of the decorating machine
and the accompanying use of reference numerals appearing in the embodiment of
Figures 1-8 are equally
applicable but not reproduced herein in regard to the like numerals appearing
in Figures 31-33. The
workpiece conveyor 12A includes a support shaft 255 at the entry end of the
conveyor and a drive shaft 256
at the delivery end of the conveyor. Support shaft 255 is supported by a
spring tensioning assembly 257
carried by the base 11 to maintain a preselected tension applied by assembly
257 to the sprockets 258, 259
and 260 and then to the endless chains 261, 262 and 263. Drive shaft 256 is
drivenly engaged with coaxially
aligned and spaced apart drive sprockets 258A, 259A and 260A to drive the runs
of endless chains 261, 262
and 263. Links 264 of the endless chains are interconnected by one of three
lugs 265 protruding from the
bottom of each carrier plate 266 of a plurality of workpiece carriers. Drive
sprockets 258A, 259A and 260A
are drivenly secured to drive shaft 256 and engage chains 261, 262 and 263 for
driving the chains about an
endless path of travel. The drive shaft 256 is rotatably supported by an
outboard bearing support 267
mounted on a sidewall of base 11 and at the inboard side, the drive shaft 256
is supported by an inboard
bearing support 268 mounted on a part of the base 11. Drive shaft 256 has an
extended shaft portion
extending beyond the inboard bearing support 268 to a drive output member 269
of a conveyor index box
270. As best shown in Figure 33, the drive output member 269 of the index box
imparts intermittent rotation
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to the shaft 256 which in turn imparts intermittent advancing motion to the
workpiece carrier mounted on
the conveyor 12A, thus intermittently advancing bottles along the decorating
machine. The bottles are
supported in a horizontal orientation between a base cup 271 and a mouthpiece
272 provided on each of the
plurality of carrier plates 266 of workpiece carriers. The conveyor index box
270 is driven by a belt 271
connected to the second line shaft 15 by a pulley mounted on an extended end
portion 15B of the shaft 15.
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 therefrom. 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.
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