US3775944A - Roller sealing means for sealing containers with closure caps - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved sealing head is described for use on machines which seal containers by placing a metal closure cap over the container mouth and by then rolling portions of the cap skirt into engagement with the container rim. The improved sealing head utilizes a pair of rollers which are movably mounted on the sealing head so that downward movement of the head automatically swings the two rollers into operating position against the cap skirt forcing the skirt into engagement with the container. This improved roller mounting means is particularly useful with high speed multi-head sealing machines as the roller structure and its operating means is relatively simple and compact so that it occupies a small space permitting the sealing heads using the rollers to be closely spaced to each other.

Description

United States Patent Roberts m1 3,775,944 Dec. 4], 1973 4] ROLLER SEALING MEANs FOR SEALING CONTAINERS WITH CLOSURE CAPS Cecil P. Roberts, Lancaster, Ohio [73] Assignee: Anchor Hocking Corporation, A Lancaster, Ohio 22 Filed: Feb. 24,1972 21 Appl. No.: 223,922

[75] Inventor:

52 us. Cl. 531/334 [51-] lnt. Cl.B6'7b 3/18 [58] Field ofSearch 53/334, 354, 331, 53/364-365, 331.5, 340, 342, 201

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 560,930 5/1896 Rau 53/354 X 938,325 10/1909 Krummel 53/342 X 1,249,025 12/1917 Carvalho..... 53/354 X 1,251,166 12/1917 Amstein 53/354 X 1,888,470 11/1932 Risser 53/342 2,178,664 1 H1939 l-logg 53/340 X 3,073,090 H1963 Roberts et al. 53/33l.5 3,537,231 11/1970 Dimond 53/201 Primary Exarhinew-Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-l-lorace M. Culver Attorney-Alexander C. Wilkie, Jr.

571 ABSTRACT An improved sealing head is described for use on machines which seal containers by placing a metal closure cap over the container mouth and by then rolling portions of the cap skirt into engagement with the container rim. The improved sealing head utilizes a pair of rollers which are movably mounted on thesealing head so that downward movement of the head automatically swings the two rollers into operating position against the, cap skirt forcing the skirt into engagement with thecontainer. This improved roller mounting means is particularly useful with high speed multihead sealing machines as the roller structure and its operating means is relatively simple and compact so that it occupies a small space permitting the sealing heads using the rollers to be closely spaced to each other.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENTEU DEB 41973SHEET 1 OF 4 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in container sealing machinery and more particularly to an improved roller sealing means of the type used to attach metal closures to glass or other containers by rolling the cap metal into engagement with the container finishes.

There are a number of widely used metal closure caps which are applied to glass and other containers in what is known as a roll seal where portions of the cap skirts are deformed or pressed into engagement with beads or grooves or other elements on the containers by forcing rollers against the metal skirts.

These sealing operations are performed on automatic machinery operated at relatively high speeds. In particular, such sealing operations are conveniently performed on rotary sealing machines where the sealing rollers are mounted at the bottom of vertical spindles as the spindles move around a circular support on a rotating sealing machine turret.

Present roller mounting systems are relatively complex and are relatively large so that they do not lend themselves to efficient use on rotary and other types of sealing machines. v

The improved roller sealing means of the present invention combines a relatively simple and automatic roller actuating means with a compact overall design thereby providing a significantlyimproved roller means adapted both for reliable high speed use as well as for use on multi-head rotary sealing machines of compact high capacity capabilities.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved roller sealing means for container sealing machines.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simplified and reliable operating mechanism for a sealing machine roller sealing means.

Another object of the present invention is to provid a reliable and efficient and relatively small mounting system for a sealing machine roller sealing means.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING chine sealing head using a roller sealing means in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectionalview taken along line 4-4 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a sealing ma- FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of a sealing head in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the improved roller sealing means for use on a bench or single station sealing machine.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line- 7-7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The improved roller sealing means of thepresent in vention maybe used on a variety of sealing machines of the type in which a metal closure cap has its skirt rolled or forced into engagement withthe finish of a glass or other containerduring the sealing operation. The improved roller sealing means is designed so that the roller motion results from a downward movement of the associated sealing head against the container being sealed. A typical and advantageous use of the im proved sealing means is with a rotarytype sealing machine where a number of sealing heads are mounted on a rotating turret. In this type of sealing machine, containers are fed onto a horizontal portion of a sealing turret with the containers being positioned beneath sealing heads. During the passage of the containers through the sealing machine, the sealing heads pickup a metal closure cap and apply and seal the cap onto a container.

A sealing machine of this general type which may be modified to use the improved roller sealing means of the present invention is described, for example, in U. S. Pat. No. 3,073,090 to C. P. Roberts et al. datedJan. 1S, 1963 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates the relevant portions of such arotary sealing machine 1 and shows the use of the improved roller sealing means 2 on theheads 3 of the sealing machine ll. A preferred embodiment of the improved roller sealing means 2 will be described in connection with such a rotary sealing machine, although it is clear that the improved sealing means may be mounted on other types of sealing machines.

As is seen in FIG. 1, thesealing machine 1 includes a horizontalcontainer supporting conveyor 4 which describes an arcuate path around arotary turret 5. A series of spaced containers 6 have been fed onto and are being carried on theturret conveyor 4. A number of equally spacedsealing heads 3 are mounted above theconveyor 4 on suitable supports 7 sothat the sealingheads 3 move around a circular path in synchronism with the movingconveyor 4 and containers 6. Each of the sealingheads 3 includes anouter spindle 8 whose position is controlled by a circular cam 9 which engages acam wheel 10 mounted on thespindle 8. The lower portion of thespindle 8 supports ahollow hood 11 including a frame 12 (FIGS. 3 5) which mounts portions of two separate roller sealing means 2 as will be more fully described below.

'A second orinner spindle 14 is slidably mounted within eachouter spindle 8 and the vertical positions of the spindles '14 are controlled by an additionalarcuate cam 15 engaged bycam rollers 16 mounted at the tops of thespindles 14. The lower end or foot 17 of eachinner spindle 14 also mounts a portion of each roller sealing means 2 in a manner which will now be described in detail with particular reference to FIGS. 2 through 5.

The sealing machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 through has two identical roller sealing means 2 mounted at the lower end of each sealinghead 3 with the tworollers 18 of each sealing means 2 being aligned radially inwardly and outwardly of thespindles 8, i.e. not between adjacent sealing means 2. As will be further apparent from the following description, this arrangement is facilitated by the compact and simplified design of the roller sealing means 2 described herein.

In the embodiment of thesealing machine 1 being described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5, the relative circular motion of therollers 18 around the skirts of theclosure caps 19 is provided by a rotation of the containers 6 and thecaps 19. This rotation of each container 6 about its vertical axis is obtained in the sealing machine illustrated in FIG. 1 by having the containers 6 held against anelongated turning pad 20 as the containers 6 move through the sealing machine on theconveyor 4. Thisrolling or turning motion of the containers'6 is seen in FIG. 2 to be facilitated by the positioning of each container 6 between a pair ofrollers 21 rotatably mounted on theturret 5 so that they engage inner portions of the container 6 sidewalls.

Each of thesealing heads 3, when moving past a cap feed station (not shown) in advance of the sealing section of the machine, receivesclosure caps 19 which are held in position on thesealing heads 3 by a belowdescribed vacuum system. When a sealinghead 3 with theclosure caps 19 in position approaches and moves through the sealing section of the sealing machine at theturning pad 20, a steam vapor is injected into the container 6 head spaces and under thecaps 19 before and during the sealing action to provide for the usual vacuum sealed containers. This steam is directed toward and into the container from asteam nozzle 22 which has itsoutlet 23 positioned along the container path inwardly of the containers 6 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. 7

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, eachsealing head 3 comprises thehollow hood 11 andframe 12 attached to the lower end of and positioned by theouter spindle 8. Thehollow hood 11 includes anupper cover 24 and I theframe 12 and a relatively light lowerremovable cover 25.

Eachinner spindle 14 has the horizontal foot portion 17 mounting a pair of roller sealing means 2. The roller sealing means 2 are each seen to comprise aroller support member 26 whose upper cylindrical portion 27 is attached to the projecting foot portion 17 of thespindle 14. Theroller support members 26 are mounted in apertures 28 in the foot portion 17 and they are held in place therein between aremovable cap 29 and acompressed coil spring 30. Thespring 30 is pre-loaded to normally hold theroller support member 26 in fixed position with respect to the position of the spindle foot 17; however, vertical movement of theroller support member 26 against the force of thecoil spring 30 may occur in the event that a downwardly moving sealinghead 3 encounters an unusual obstruction. A cap support shoe 3]. is rotatably mounted on a support rod 32 within theroller support member 26 under a roller bearing 33. Thiscap support shoe 31 is seen to have avacuum conduit 34 extending from its top through theshoe 31 for applying a vacuum support force to theclosure caps 19. Theconduit 34 communicates with an external source of vacuum through ahorizontal conduit 35 in thespindle 14 foot portion 17 and an interconnectedvacuum tube 36 which is coupled to the source of vacuum through a suitable manifold on the sealing machine turret (not shown).

A pair of therollers 18 for each of the two roller sealing means 2 on a sealinghead 3, as illustrated in FIG. 3, are mounted onroller brackets 37. Thebrackets 37 each have a pair of spaced mounting pins consisting of anouter pin 38 slidably engaging aslot 39 in thehood frame 12 and aninner pin 40 slidably engaging aslot 41 in theroller support member 26. It is, therefore, seen that the position of eachroller 18 is controlled by the attitude of its supportingroller brackets 37 and the attitude of thebracket 37 is controlled by the relative vertical positions of the inner and outer spindles l4 and 8 during the downward movement of these spindles under the control of the above describedcams 9 and 15. Thus, each of theroller brackets 37 is turned to its operative position with therollers 18 against the skirt of thecap 19, as illustrated in dash-dot lines in FIG. 3, as relative downward movment is provided between theouter spindle 8 and itsinterconnected hood 11 and theinner spindle 14 and its interconnectedroller support members 26. In a typical sealing machine arrangement, for example, thecontrol cams 9 and 15 are set to move the inner and the outer spindles downwardly with simultaneous motion to move thehoods 1 1 over containers 6 and to move closure caps 19 simultaneously over the filled containers 6. Thereafter, the downward movement of theinner spindle 14 is terminated and a slight additional downward movement of theouter spindle 8 is provided thereby tilting therollers 18 on each of theroller brackets 37 inwardly into operative engagement with the skirts of thecaps 19.

As already indicated, a slight vertical accomodation for differing container 6 heights is provided by thespring 30 mounting of each of theroller support members 26 on the lower portion 17 of eachspindle 14. A correction is also provided for containers 6 whose finishes may be out-of-round or which may have slightly differing diameters. This correction is obtained by the above-describedslot mountings 39 and 41 for the outer and the inner mounting pins 38 and 40 for each of theroller brackets 37. In normal operation on round and exactly sized container finishes, connecting and stressed coil springs 42 coupled between the adjacent inner mounting pins 40 hold theroller brackets 37 at their normal inward operative position. The force applied by thesprings 42 is set to permit outward forces on the rollers in excess of the force required to perform the cap rolling or shaping operation to permit outward motion of therollers 18 to compensate for size or shape variations in the container rims.

Each of therollers 18 is mounted on asupport shaft 43 rotatably contained in a bearing sleeve 44 in theroller bracket 37. Therollers 18 are held upwardly in their correct operating position in thebrackets 37 by means of compressed coil springs 45 positioned between awasher 46 attached to the top of theroller support shaft 43 and awasher 47 seated on the top of the bearing sleeve 44.

ALTERNATE EMBODIMENT FOR ROTATING SEALING HEADS In the embodiment described above, the relative circular motion between the sealing rollers and the closure cap is provided by a rotation of the container and the cap without spindle rotation.

' FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate another embodiment of a roller sealing means in accordance with the present invention where the container 50 is held against rotation in aclamp 51 and where the sealingrollers 52 are rotated around theclosure cap 53. This embodiment is useful in sealing machines employing rotating spindles either in a turret arrangement or in a single station sealing machine such as a test machine known as a bench machine.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 includes ahood 54 mounted at the lower end of anouter spindle 55. Thehollow hood 54 is attached to thespindle 55 for vertical movement therewith but does not rotate. Aninner spindle 56 is also provided which is rotated within the outer. spindle and which is slidably mounted for relative axial motion with respect to theouter spindle 55 andhollow hood 54.

Theinner spindle 56 has a roller mounting 57 mounted on its lower end. The roller mounting 57 includes a T-shapedfoot 58 coupled to a pair ofroller support brackets 59. Thesebrackets 59 are generally similar to thebrackets 37 described above. Thebrackets 59 are pivotally attached to the outer ends of thefoot 58 of the roller mounting 57 by a pair ofpins 61 The coupling between the hollowroller mounting member 57 and the lower endof the spindle 56includes acoupling member 82 mounted within the hollow lower end of thespindle 56 and including a compressedcoil spring 83. Thisspring 83 is pre-loaded so that normal operation of the sealing head causes no relative motion between thecoupling 82 and thespindle 56. In the event that the sealing head encounters an un usual obstacle due to container or cap size variations or imperfections, thespring 83 permits an accomodating upward motion of the coupling and its attachedroller engaging slots 62 in thefoot 58. An inner portion of 7 each of theroller brackets 59 is pivotally attached bypins 64 and slots 65 to a slidably mountedcap engaging shoe 66 slidably mounted within the roller mounting 57. Theshoe 66 is slidably mounted for vertical motion under the control of acompressed coil spring 67 so that downward movement of theinner spindle 56, which moves a closure cap against a container, causes a relative downward movement of thefoot 58 and a corresponding inward movement of the sealingrollers 52 as' theroller brackets 59 turn to their operative position as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As already indicated, themountin'g pins 61 and 64 for the roller brackets are held inslots 62 and 65 in thefoot 58 and in theshoe 66 which permits a radially outwardly directed motion of therollers 52 should therollers 52 encounter an out-of-round or an oversize container finish. Coil springs 69 coupling theinner pins 64 normally hold therollers 52 in position as they exert the necessary cap shaping forces but permit the outward movement oftherollers 52 when an increased force results from the out-of-round. or oversize variations. The relative vertical motion permitted between thefoot 58 and thecap supporting shoe 66 is set by anadjustable set screw 70. i

As indicated above, the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 rotates thespindle 56 and its attachedrollers 52 around the stationary container 50. In order to permit thespindle 56 to apply a downward sealing force during this rotation, apad member 72 is rotatably mounted within thehollow shoe 66. Thepad 72 has a resilient friction cover 73 on its lower surface and is rotatably mounted within thehollow shoe 66 using anupper ball bearing 74 and alower bearing 75. Apin 76 engaging acircular slot 77 in thepad 72 holds thepad 72 in position within thehollow shoe 66.

A source of vacuum for holding theclosure cap 53 onto thepad 72 prior to the rolling operation applies ,the vacuum force to thecap 53 through a channel includingvacuum inlet 78,conduit 79 in thespindle 56, ports 80 in the top of theshoe 66 and avacuum channel 81 provided in thepad 72.

operation of the rollers. Additionally, the improved arrangement is relatively compact permitting a preferred roller mounting arrangement with a pair of rollers to be spaced radially inwardly and outwardly of the sealing heads thereby permitting adjacent sealing heads to be closely mounted with respect to one another to provide a high speed, high capacity roller sealing machine.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit. and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

ll. In an improved roller sealing means for a container sealing machine having a sealing head including a spindle means with rollers mounted thereon for sealing the containers by rolling metal closures onto the container top finishes and with means for providing relative rotation between the spindle and the container tops, the improvement comprising said spindle means having a vertically movable inner portion movable upwardly with respect to an outer portion of said spindle means, a bracket rotatably supporting each roller, a pivot means pivotally attaching a radially outer portion of each bracket to the outer portion of the spindle means, a second pivot means pivotally attaching a radially inner portion of each bracket to said inner spindle portion whereby the upward movement of the inner spindle portion moves the rollers inwardly against caps on the container finishes, each of said pivot means including radially oriented slot means permitting the brackets to move radially outwardly of the spindle without tilting movement where non-circular container surfaces are encountered, and resilient means urging the brackets radially inwardly of the spindles toward and against the caps with a contact force between each roller and the cap equal to the normal cap shaping force.

2. The roller sealing means as claimed inclaim 1 in which said spindles are mounted on a rotary turret for movement about a stationary support in a circular path, a first elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical positions of said spindles, and a second elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical position of said spindle inner portion.

3. The roller sealing means as claimed inclaim 1 in I means positioned for yieldably positioning each shaft on it's bracket.

4. The roller sealing means as claimed inclaim 2 in which each spindle mounts a plurality of rollers with a pair of said rollers on each spindle being aligned radially of said rotary turret.

5. In an improved roller sealing means for a container sealing machine having a sealing head including a spindle meanswith a plurality of rollers mounted thereon for sealing the containers by rolling metal closures onto the container top finishes and with means for providing relative rotation between the spindle and the container tops, the improvement comprising said spindle means having a vertically movable inner portion movable upwardly with respect to an outer portion of said spindle means, a bracket rotatably supporting each roller, a pivot means pivotally attaching a radially outer portion of each bracket to the outer portion of the spindle means, a second pivot means pivotally attaching a radially inner portion of each bracket to said inner spindle portion whereby the upward movement of the inner spindle portion moves the rollers inwardly against caps on the container finishes, each of said pivot means ineluding radially oriented slot means permitting the brackets to move radially outwardly of the spindle brackets radially inwardly of the spindles towards and against the caps with a contact force between each roller and the cap equal to the normal cap shaping force, cam means for determining the relative vertical positions of said spindles inner and outer portion, each of said rollers being rotatably attached to a bracket on an elongated shaft, means slidably containing each shaft on the bracket for axial movement, and resilient means positioned for yieldably positioning each shaft on its bracket.

6. The roller sealing means as claimed inclaim 5 in which said spindles are mounted on a rotary turret for movement about a stationary support in a circular path, a first elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical positions of said spindles, and a second elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical position of said spindle inner portion.

Claims (6)

1. In an improved roller sealing means for a container sealing machine having a sealing head including a spindle means with rollers mounted thereon for sealing the containers by rolling metal closures onto the container top finishes and with means for providing relative rotation between the spindle and the container tops, the improvement comprising said spinDle means having a vertically movable inner portion movable upwardly with respect to an outer portion of said spindle means, a bracket rotatably supporting each roller, a pivot means pivotally attaching a radially outer portion of each bracket to the outer portion of the spindle means, a second pivot means pivotally attaching a radially inner portion of each bracket to said inner spindle portion whereby the upward movement of the inner spindle portion moves the rollers inwardly against caps on the container finishes, each of said pivot means including radially oriented slot means permitting the brackets to move radially outwardly of the spindle without tilting movement where non-circular container surfaces are encountered, and resilient means urging the brackets radially inwardly of the spindles toward and against the caps with a contact force between each roller and the cap equal to the normal cap shaping force.

2. The roller sealing means as claimed in claim 1 in which said spindles are mounted on a rotary turret for movement about a stationary support in a circular path, a first elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical positions of said spindles, and a second elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical position of said spindle inner portion.

3. The roller sealing means as claimed in claim 1 in which each roller is rotatably attached to a bracket on an elongated shaft, means slidably containing each shaft in the bracket for axial movement, and resilient means positioned for yieldably positioning each shaft on its bracket.

4. The roller sealing means as claimed in claim 2 in which each spindle mounts a plurality of rollers with a pair of said rollers on each spindle being aligned radially of said rotary turret.

5. In an improved roller sealing means for a container sealing machine having a sealing head including a spindle means with a plurality of rollers mounted thereon for sealing the containers by rolling metal closures onto the container top finishes and with means for providing relative rotation between the spindle and the container tops, the improvement comprising said spindle means having a vertically movable inner portion movable upwardly with respect to an outer portion of said spindle means, a bracket rotatably supporting each roller, a pivot means pivotally attaching a radially outer portion of each bracket to the outer portion of the spindle means, a second pivot means pivotally attaching a radially inner portion of each bracket to said inner spindle portion whereby the upward movement of the inner spindle portion moves the rollers inwardly against caps on the container finishes, each of said pivot means including radially oriented slot means permitting the brackets to move radially outwardly of the spindle without tilting movement where non-circular container surfaces are encountered, resilient means urging the brackets radially inwardly of the spindles towards and against the caps with a contact force between each roller and the cap equal to the normal cap shaping force, cam means for determining the relative vertical positions of said spindles inner and outer portion, each of said rollers being rotatably attached to a bracket on an elongated shaft, means slidably containing each shaft on the bracket for axial movement, and resilient means positioned for yieldably positioning each shaft on its bracket.

6. The roller sealing means as claimed in claim 5 in which said spindles are mounted on a rotary turret for movement about a stationary support in a circular path, a first elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical positions of said spindles, and a second elongated arcuate cam means being mounted on said support for controlling the vertical position of said spindle inner portion.

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