EP0403259A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Capping and de-capping of plastic bottles
Assignee: MCG INDUSTRIES Pty Ltd
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Filing: 1990-06-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-06-13
Abstract
Abstract A plastic bottle (10) has a flange (15) on its neck. A pair of recesses (18) is formed in the flange. Each recess being shaped to be engageable with a stop member (7) on a star wheel (4) when the bottle passes through a capping or de-capping station, to prevent rotation of the bottle and to permit it to be capped or de-capped.
Inventors
- 👤 Denis Leslie Atkinson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 17:49
CPC Classifications
B; B67; B67B; B67B7/00; B67B7/18; B67B7/182; B65; B65C; B65C9/00; B65C9/06; B65C9/065; B65D; B65D1/00; B65D1/02; B65D1/0223; B65D1/023; B67B3/00; B67B3/20; B67B3/2013; B67B3/2033; B67B3/206
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
63 words
A plastic bottle (10) having a flange (15) on its neck (11), characterized in that a recess (18) is formed in the flange, the recess being shaped to engage a stop member (7) on a star wheel (4) when the bottle passes through a capping or de-capping station to prevent rotation of the bottle and to permit it to be capped or de-capped.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
63 words
A plastic bottle (10) having a flange (15) on its neck (11), characterized in that a recess (18) is formed in the flange, the recess being shaped to engage a stop member (7) on a star wheel (4) when the bottle passes through a capping or de-capping station to prevent rotation of the bottle and to permit it to be capped or de-capped.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
A bottle as claimed in claim 1 in which the recess (18) is in the form of a cut-out in the flange (15) extending to the neck (11) of the bottle in a radial direction and extending approximately one quarter of the circumferential length of the flange.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A bottle as claimed in claim 2 in which the cut-out has radiused ends (18a) adapted to trap against the stop member (7) on the star wheel (4).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
A bottle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the recess is one of a pair of diametrically opposed recesses formed in the flange.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A bottle as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the recess (18) is formed underneath an annular shoulder (16) located on the upper side of the flange (15).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
75 words
Capping or de-capping apparatus having a star wheel (4) with a plurality of bottle neck receiving notches (6) provided along its periphery, characterized in that a stop member (7) is provided adjacent each notch (6) which co-operates with a recess (18) in a flange (15) of a plastic bottle (10) as defined in any one of the preceding claims to prevent rotation of the bottle and to permit the bottle to be capped or de-capped.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which each stop member (7) is located to one side of each notch (6) in the star wheel.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 in which each stop member (7), projects above the upper surface of the star wheel and is spring loaded to enable it to be depressed.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 in which each stop member (7) is spring loaded by means of a leaf spring (8) mounted on the underside of the star wheel (4).
Claim 11
Independent Claim
121 words
A method of capping or de-capping a bottle (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 comprising the steps of providing capping or de-capping apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9, feeding a plurality of such bottles into the apparatus so that consecutive bottles engage consecutive notches (6) in the star wheel (4) of the capping or de-capping apparatus, causing consecutive capping or de-capping heads (5) to descend on to the bottles whereby they are rotated until the recess (18) in the flange (15) of each bottle engages the stop member (7) adjacent the notch (6) on the star wheel (4) to trap the bottle against rotation, and completing the capping or de-capping operation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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