Closure handling and orienting apparatus

Claim 2

Article handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical articles having a flat portion at one end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged articles are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented articles resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, a stationary annular member disposed above the marginal edge of said rotary disk provIding clearance to permit passage thereunder of oriented articles resting on their flat surfaces, and means associated with said annular member for effecting orientation of those articles resting on their spherical surfaces.

Claim 3

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, a stationary annular member disposed above the marginal portion of said disk and spaced therefrom to permit passage thereunder of oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces, the underside of said annular member having resilient portions engageable with those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 4

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, a stationary annular member disposed above the marginal portion of said disk and spaced therefrom to permit passage thereunder of oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces, the underside of said annular member having resilient portions engageable with those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 5

Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the closures are urged outwardly by centrifugal force, and air jets arranged to assist in effecting said outward movement.

Claim 6

Closure handling and orienting apparatus as defined in claim 2 which includes means for preorienting a majority of the closures deposited on the disk adapted to effect rolling of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 7

Closure handling and orienting apparatus as defined in claim 2 which includes means for preorienting a majority of the closures deposited on the disk, said preorienting means comprising radially extended stationary rods from the center of said disk providing vertical clearance for closures resting on their flat surfaces and effecting rolling of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces.

Claim 8

Closure handling and orienting apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said annular member is provided with cutout areas at the inner periphery thereof leaving spaced segmental portions, said segmental portions having the resilient material on the underside thereof.

Claim 9

Closure handling and orienting apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein provision is made in said cutout areas for diverting toward the center of the disk those closures which fail to assume an oriented position before coming out from under a segmental portion.

Claim 10

Closure handling and orienting apparatus as defined in claim 6 which includes air jets directed to return toward the center of the disk those closures disposed in selected of said cutout areas.

Claim 11

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, a stationary annular member disposed above the marginal portion of said disk and spaced therefrom to permit passage thereunder of oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces, the underside of said annular member having resilient portions engageable with those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces, and means for preorienting a majority of the closures deposited on the disk comprising radially extended stationary rods from the center of said disk providing clearance for oriented closures and effecting rolling of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces.

Claim 12

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, a stationary annular member disposed above the marginal portion of said disk and spaced therefrom to permit passage thereunder of oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces, the underside of said annular member having resilient portions engageable with those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces, and means for preorienting a majority of the closures deposited on the disk comprising radially extended stationary rods from the center of said disk providing clearance for oriented closures and effecting rolling of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces.

Claim 13

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to prOvide a circular row, means for orienting those closures resting on their spherical surfaces, a feed chute, means for transferring oriented closures from said circular row into said feed chute, and means for diverting from said row those closures having their flat sides up.

Claim 14

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to prOvide a circular row, means for orienting those closures resting on their spherical surfaces, a feed chute, means for transferring oriented closures from said circular row into said feed chute, and means for diverting from said row those closures having their flat sides up.

Claim 15

Apparatus as defined in claim 10 which includes a bulk supply of closures, and means for returning the diverted closures to said bulk supply.

Claim 16

Apparatus for handling spherical closures having a flat on one side comprising, in combination, a bulk supply of closures, a carrier disk mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane and onto which randomly arranged closures are deposited from said supply, a retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which upright closures with their flat ends up or down are aligned to provide a circular row, a stationary annular orienting member disposed above and cooperating with said disk arranged to bar entrance thereunder those closures assuming an upright position with their flat ends down, a feed chute, means for transferring from said circular row into said feed chute those closures having their flat ends down, and means for diverting from said circular row those closures having their flat ends up to be returned to said bulk supply.

Claim 17

Apparatus for handling spherical closures having a flat on one side comprising, in combination, a bulk supply of closures, a carrier disk mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane and onto which randomly arranged closures are deposited from said supply, a retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which upright closures with their flat ends up or down are aligned to provide a circular row, a stationary annular orienting member disposed above and cooperating with said disk arranged to bar entrance thereunder those closures assuming an upright position with their flat ends down, a feed chute, means for transferring from said circular row into said feed chute those closures having their flat ends down, and means for diverting from said circular row those closures having their flat ends up to be returned to said bulk supply.

Claim 18

Apparatus as defined in claim 12 which includes means for feeding closures from said bulk supply onto said disk, means for driving said feeding means, means for rotating said carrier disk, and control means responsive to an accumulation of closures beyond a predetermined point in the chute for discontinuing operation of said feeding mean and said disk.

Claim 19

Apparatus as defined in claim 13 herein the closures are transferred to the chute in a continuous line and wherein the control means includes a photoelectric detecting unit and a relay in circuit therewith arranged to permit individual closures to pass said predetermined point without activating said unit, and an air jet operative to rapidly advance successive foremost closures in the continuous line to cause rapid passage of individual closures by said photoelectric unit during normal operation.

Claim 20

Apparatus for handling spherical articles having a flat at one end comprising, in combination, a rotary carrier disk upon which randomly arranged articles are deposited, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk, said articles being moved radially outwardly toward said wall during rotation of the disk, means disposed in the path of said outwardly moving articles for barring movement to said wall of those articles resting on their spherical surfaces while permitting passage of oriented articles resting on their flat ends to provide a circular row of articles against said wall, a supply chute, and means for transferring oriented articles from said circular row to said supply chute.

Claim 21

Apparatus for handling spherical articles having a flat at one end comprising, in combination, a rotary carrier disk upon which randomly arranged articles are deposited, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk, said articles being moved radially outwardly toward said wall during rotation of the disk, means disposed in the path of said outwardly moving articles for barring movement to said wall of those articles resting on their spherical surfaces while permitting passage of oriented articles resting on their flat ends to provide a circular row of articles against said wall, a supply chute, and means for transferring oriented articles from said circular row to said supply chute.

Claim 22

Apparatus as defined in claim 15 which includes means for preventing entrance into said chute of those articles which inadvertently assume a flat end up position in said circular row.

Claim 23

Apparatus as defined in claim 16 wherein the means in the path of the articles comprises an annular member disposed above the disk, the underside of said member comprising a resilient material arranged to effect rolling and orientation of those articles resting on their spherical surfaces.

Claim 24

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, and stationary means cooperating with said rotary disk adapted to effect rotation of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 25

Closure handling and orienting apparatus adapted to handle spherical closures open at one end and having a flat portion at its open end, in combination, a rotary disk upon which randomly arranged closures are deposited to be urged radially outward, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk and against which oriented closures resting on their flat surfaces are urged to provide a circular row, and stationary means cooperating with said rotary disk adapted to effect rotation of those closures resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 26

Apparatus for handling spherical articles having a flat at one end comprising in combination, a rotary carrier disK upon which randomly arranged articles are deposited, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk, said articles being moved radially outward toward said wall during rotation of the disk, and stationary means cooperating with said rotary disk and engageable with the tops of the articles resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces.

Claim 27

Apparatus for handling spherical articles having a flat at one end comprising in combination, a rotary carrier disK upon which randomly arranged articles are deposited, a circular retaining wall cooperating with said disk, said articles being moved radially outward toward said wall during rotation of the disk, and stationary means cooperating with said rotary disk and engageable with the tops of the articles resting on their spherical surfaces to cause them to roll until they rest on their flat surfaces.