Bottle conveyor system including adjustable height continuous belt conveyor and positive lock spray shielded rotatable bottle carrier

Claim 2

The combination of a. an adjustable height conveyor system comprising a continuous belt passing over and around a plurality of rollers rotating on parallel axes, a first and second of said rollers fixedly mounted in a first horizontal linkage, a third and fourth of said rollers mounted in a second adjustable horizontal linkage elevated above the plane of said first pair of rollers, first and second parallel inclined rigid linkages of equal length extending between said first and second horizontal linkages and pivotally mounted thereto, and adjustable jack means extending between a rigid base support and said second horizontal linkage whereby the elevation of said second horizontal plane may be varied without changing the length of said continuous belt; and b. an overhead carrier track extending longitudinally over and substantially parallel to said second horizontal linkage, a plurality of individual neck-gripping container carriers mounted on said overhead track and linked together to form a continuous chain, cam follower means on each of said carriers engageable with cam means mounted on said overhead track in the vicinity of said second horizontal plane for opening the neck-gripping mechanism of said carriers as they pass thereover, a feed screw rotatably mounted on said second horizontal linkage for rotation about a horizontal axis extending parallel and adjacent to said conveyor belt, and synchronous drive means for said overhead carrier chain and said feed screw whereby containers traveling on said conveyor belt are uniformly spaced beneath and in vertical alignment with said individual overhead carriers upon traversing said second horizontal plane, and said elevated overhead carriers are successively engagingly closed into neck-gripping engagement with said containers as said cam follower means disengages said overhead cam means.

Claim 3

In a continuously moving conveyor system wherein a plurality of frangible containers are suspended from a corresponding plurality of individual overhead carriers, means for automatically transferring containers from said overhead carriers to a continuously moving bottom support conveyor comprising in combination, a continuous moving belt conveyor extending longitudinally beneath said overhead carriers, drive means synchronizing the rate of travel of said belt conveyor with the travel rate of said overhead carriers, a horizontal portion of said conveyor belt passing over first and second horizontally separated parallel guide rollers, said first and second guide rollers mounted on opposite ends of a vertically adjustable horizontal platform, adjustable jack means supporting said platform in a plane such that the horizontal portion of said continuously moving belt conveyor passes beneath containers held by said overhead carriers in close proximity to the bottoms of said containers, an overhead cam extending over a portion of said horizontal platform and engageable with cam follower means on said individual overhead carriers whereby said carriers are successively disengaged from said containers, whereupon said containers are gently deposited upon said horizontal moving conveyor belt, and an angularly declining portion of said continuous moving belt descending to pass over and around a lower pair of third and fourth belt rollers before returning to complete a loop over said first and second horizontally separated guide rollers.

Claim 4

In a continuously moving conveyor system wherein a plurality of frangible containers are suspended from a corresponding plurality of individual overhead carriers, means for automatically transferring containers from said overhead carriers to a continuously moving bottom support conveyor comprising in combination, a continuous moving belt conveyor extending longitudinally beneath said overhead carriers, drive means synchronizing the rate of travel of said belt conveyor with the travel rate of said overhead carriers, a horizontal portion of said conveyor belt passing over first and second horizontally separated parallel guide rollers, said first and second guide rollers mounted on opposite ends of a vertically adjustable horizontal platform, adjustable jack means supporting said platform in a plane such that the horizontal portion of said continuously moving belt conveyor passes beneath containers held by said overhead carriers in close proximity to the bottoms of said containers, an overhead cam extending over a portion of said horizontal platform and engageable with cam follower means on said individual overhead carriers whereby said carriers are successively disengaged from said containers, whereupon said containers are gently deposited upon said horizontal moving conveyor belt, and an angularly declining portion of said continuous moving belt descending to pass over and around a lower pair of third and fourth belt rollers before returning to complete a loop over said first and second horizontally separated guide rollers.

Claim 5

The combination of claim 2 including first and second rigid linkages of equal length extending between the planes of said first and second horizontal belt guide rollers, whereby the path traversed by said continuous moving belt defines a parallelogram and said horizontal platform portion may be elevated or lowered by said jack means without varying the length or tension of said continuous belt.

Claim 6

An automatic bottle handling and processing system comprising in combination, a first continuously moving belt conveyor having an inclined ramp portion and an elevated horizontal platform portion, adjustable means for varying the elevation of said horizontal platform portion to accommodate bottles of different heights without varying the length of said continuous belt, an overhead chain conveyor continuously moving in the direction of said belt conveyor and extending longitudinally over and parallel to said horizontal portion of said conveyor belt, a plurality of uniformly spaced neck-gripping bottle carriers suspended seriatim from said overhead chain conveyor, horizontal feed screw adjacent the horizontal position of said conveyor belt for uniformly spacing bottles thereon in alignment with the uniformly spaced overhead carriers, means on each of said overhead carriers engageable with overhead cam means positioned above the junction of said inclined ramp and horizontal platform portions for elevating and opening said overhead carriers as they approach said horizontal belt portion and for lowering and closing said neck-gripping carriers onto successive bottles as they pass therebeneath on said horizontal belt portion, whereby bottles are successively transferred from the bottom support of said belt to suspend support from said overhead conveyor, a processing station including a horizontal linear rack engageable with a sprocketed peripheral portion of each of said carriers as said carriers move through said processing station, whereby suspended bottles carried through said processing station are caused to rotate about their vertical axes of suspension thereat, and a discharge station comprising a second continuously moving belt conveyor positioned beneath said overhead chain conveyor, beyond said processing station, with an elevated horizontal portIon of said second belt adjustably located in close proximity to the bottoms of bottles suspended thereover by said overhead carriers, overhead cam means at said discharge station for disengaging and elevating said carriers from the necks of bottles thereat whereby said released bottles are deposited upright from the horizontal portion of said conveyor belt, and a declining ramp portion of said second continuously moving belt delivering uniformly spaced and processed bottles from said system.

Claim 7

An automatic bottle handling and processing system comprising in combination, a first continuously moving belt conveyor having an inclined ramp portion and an elevated horizontal platform portion, adjustable means for varying the elevation of said horizontal platform portion to accommodate bottles of different heights without varying the length of said continuous belt, an overhead chain conveyor continuously moving in the direction of said belt conveyor and extending longitudinally over and parallel to said horizontal portion of said conveyor belt, a plurality of uniformly spaced neck-gripping bottle carriers suspended seriatim from said overhead chain conveyor, horizontal feed screw adjacent the horizontal position of said conveyor belt for uniformly spacing bottles thereon in alignment with the uniformly spaced overhead carriers, means on each of said overhead carriers engageable with overhead cam means positioned above the junction of said inclined ramp and horizontal platform portions for elevating and opening said overhead carriers as they approach said horizontal belt portion and for lowering and closing said neck-gripping carriers onto successive bottles as they pass therebeneath on said horizontal belt portion, whereby bottles are successively transferred from the bottom support of said belt to suspend support from said overhead conveyor, a processing station including a horizontal linear rack engageable with a sprocketed peripheral portion of each of said carriers as said carriers move through said processing station, whereby suspended bottles carried through said processing station are caused to rotate about their vertical axes of suspension thereat, and a discharge station comprising a second continuously moving belt conveyor positioned beneath said overhead chain conveyor, beyond said processing station, with an elevated horizontal portIon of said second belt adjustably located in close proximity to the bottoms of bottles suspended thereover by said overhead carriers, overhead cam means at said discharge station for disengaging and elevating said carriers from the necks of bottles thereat whereby said released bottles are deposited upright from the horizontal portion of said conveyor belt, and a declining ramp portion of said second continuously moving belt delivering uniformly spaced and processed bottles from said system.

Claim 8

The system defined in claim 4 including synchronous drive means coupling said overhead chain conveyor to said horizontal feed screw whereby uniformly spaced bottles on the elevated horizontal portion of said first conveyor belt are caused to move in synchronism and alignment with said overhead carriers.

Claim 9

The system defined in claim 4 including synchronous drive means coupled to said overhead chain conveyor and said second continuous belt conveyor whereby bottles deposited on the horizontal portion of said second conveyor belt, upon the release of said overhead carriers, are caused to move thereby at the same rate of travel as said releasing overhead carriers.