Automatic can coating apparatus

Claim 1

PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR THE NON-CUTTING PROCESSING OF WORK-PIECES IN CONTINUOUS FLOW, COMPRISING A WORKING UNIT INCLUDING IN COMBINATION; AT LEAST ONE PROCESSING STATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF A FLUENT MATERIAL TO THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF THE WORK-PIECE TO BE PROCESSED; A TOOL AT SAID PROCESSING STATION; A TOOL HOLDER CARRYING SAID TOOL AND DRIVE MEANS FOR MOVING SAID TOOL HOLDER IN FORWARD AND REVERSE DIRECTION; A WORK-PIECE HOLDING HEAD HAVING HOLDERS THEREON ADAPTED TO CARRY SIMULTANEOUSLY SEVERAL WORK-PIECES DISTRIBUTED ON ITS PERIPHERY, SAID WORK-PIECE HOLDING HEAD BEING MOVABLE IN DISCRETE CHANGE-OVER STEPS TO BRING SAID WORK-PIECES ON ITS PERIPHERY ONE AFTER THE OTHER INTO THE PROCESSING POSITION AND THERE PRESENT THEM TO SAID TOOL ON SAID TOOL-HOLDER FOR PERFORMING THE RESPECTIVE PROCESSING OPERATION; A DRIVE MOTOR FOR SAID WORKPIECE HOLDING HEAD CONNECTED THEREWITH; COUPLING MEANS BETWEEN THE DRIVES OF SAID WORK-PIECE HOLDING HEAD AND SAID TOOL-HOLDER, MEANS FOR UNCOUPLING SAID COUPLING MEANS FOR INTERRUPTING THE POWER CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID DRIVE MOTOR AND SAID TOOL-HOLDER AT A PREDETERMINED TIME WHILE MAINTAINING A CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID DRIVE MOTOR AND SAID HEAD; A CONTROL DEVICE FOR DETECTING THE CORRECT WORKING POSITION OF THE WORK PIECES ON THE WORK-PIECE HOLDING HEAD; A FEELER MEMBER WITHIN SAID CONTROL DEVICE FOR PERFORMING SAID CONTROL OPERATION, MEANS CONNECTING SAID COUPLING AND UNCOUPLING MEANS TO SAID FEELER MEMBER OF SAID CONTROL DEVICE TO COUPLE OR UNCOUPLE SAID TOOLHOLDER FROM SAID HOLDING HEAD IN RESPONSE TO IMPULSES GENERATED BY SAID CONTROL DEVICE IN DEPENDENCE UPON WHETHER THE HOLDER APPROACHING THE PROCESSING STATION CONTAINS A WORK-PIECE AND WHETHER THIS WORK-PIECE IS TAKEN UP IN ITS HOLDER THE CORRECT WORKING POSITION.