US3901180A — Apparatus for transfer and coating of bottles

Claim 1

Independent Claim 383 words

Apparatus for applying a thermoplastic coating to glass bottles and adapted to received hot bottles, from a horizontal endless-belt table conveyor, said apparatus consisting of: a. sensing means for indicating the presence of bottles at a pick-up position on said horizontal endless-belt table conveyor and for providing an output signal in response thereto, b. pick-up means responsive to said signal for picking up said bottles and transporting them to a downwardly extended first set of chucks mounted on an endless overhead conveyor at a first position thereof, c. said first set of chucks and said overhead conveyor being adapted to receive said bottles at said first position on said conveyor, from said pick-up means, to grip said bottles upon the receipt thereof and to transport said bottles in a horizontal path from said first conveyor position. d. said first set of chucks being part of an array on said overhead conveyor, said array consisting of a plurality of identical sets of chucks, said sets being positioned at fixed intervals along said conveyor, e. overhead conveyor drive means for moving said overhead conveyor a distance along its length corresponding to said fixed intervals between sets of chucks thereon, further including conveyor actuation means for initiating said drive means following placement of said bottles on said first set of chucks, f. an open top tank adapted to receive a bed of fluid bed coating powder and means for fluidizing a bed of powder contained therein, said tank being positioned directly below a second set of chucks, adjacent said first set of chucks on said overhead conveyor in the direction of movement of said overhead conveyor, said tank being sufficiently large to encompass the projected area of said second set of chucks, g. means for raising said tank following said overhead conveyor movement and for stopping said upward movement at a point wherein the surface of a fluidized powder bed in said tank is at a predetermined vertical position relative to said second set of chucks, holding said tank in said raised position for a period of time, and then lowering said tank to its starting position, and h. resetting means for thereafter permitting said sensing means to inDicate the presence of further bottles at said pick-up position and to provide an output signal responsive thereto.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 383 words

Apparatus for applying a thermoplastic coating to glass bottles and adapted to received hot bottles, from a horizontal endless-belt table conveyor, said apparatus consisting of: a. sensing means for indicating the presence of bottles at a pick-up position on said horizontal endless-belt table conveyor and for providing an output signal in response thereto, b. pick-up means responsive to said signal for picking up said bottles and transporting them to a downwardly extended first set of chucks mounted on an endless overhead conveyor at a first position thereof, c. said first set of chucks and said overhead conveyor being adapted to receive said bottles at said first position on said conveyor, from said pick-up means, to grip said bottles upon the receipt thereof and to transport said bottles in a horizontal path from said first conveyor position. d. said first set of chucks being part of an array on said overhead conveyor, said array consisting of a plurality of identical sets of chucks, said sets being positioned at fixed intervals along said conveyor, e. overhead conveyor drive means for moving said overhead conveyor a distance along its length corresponding to said fixed intervals between sets of chucks thereon, further including conveyor actuation means for initiating said drive means following placement of said bottles on said first set of chucks, f. an open top tank adapted to receive a bed of fluid bed coating powder and means for fluidizing a bed of powder contained therein, said tank being positioned directly below a second set of chucks, adjacent said first set of chucks on said overhead conveyor in the direction of movement of said overhead conveyor, said tank being sufficiently large to encompass the projected area of said second set of chucks, g. means for raising said tank following said overhead conveyor movement and for stopping said upward movement at a point wherein the surface of a fluidized powder bed in said tank is at a predetermined vertical position relative to said second set of chucks, holding said tank in said raised position for a period of time, and then lowering said tank to its starting position, and h. resetting means for thereafter permitting said sensing means to inDicate the presence of further bottles at said pick-up position and to provide an output signal responsive thereto.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 70 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein said sensing means comprises a light beam source, a photocell, sensitive to said light beam from said source, which provides an output signal in response to the impingement of said light beam thereon, said source and said photocell being disposed so that the path of said beam from said source to said photocell traverses a space occupied by bottles at said pick-up position.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 101 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein said pick-up means comprises a plurality of pairs of fingers, the tips of each pair being biased toward each other, the inner surfaces of said fingers having indentations to facilitate the gripping of a bottle neck therein, said pick-up means further including means to separate said fingers, in opposition to said biasing means, and lowering means to lower said separated fingers in each of said pairs over a bottle at said pick-up position and then permitting said biasing means to cause said fingers to close toward one another and thereby to grip said bottle.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 55 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 3, wherein said fingers in each of said pairs of fingers are horizontally disposed, the tips of said fingers being spring-biased toward one another, further including a pivotally mounted cam between each such pair of fingers, and means for rotating said cam and thereby separating said tips of said fingers.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 88 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 4, wherein the tips of said fingers extend horizontally from vertical suspending members in turn connected to actuating portions of said fingers, said biasing means and said cam acting on said actuating portions, said cams being mounted on vertical shafts in turn connected to horizontally disposed lever members, an end of each such lever member being pivotally connected to a transverse finger actuating bar with means for moving said bar back and forth along its length to open and close said finger tips.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 54 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein said overhead conveyor consists of two parallel endless sprocket chains, each suspended between at least two vertical sprocket wheels horizontally displaced from one another, with chuck bars mounted transversely of said chains connected to elements thereof and suspended therebetween, said chucks being suspended from said chuck bars.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 105 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein each chuck in said first set of chucks consists of at least three downwardly extended prongs all mutually urged away from one another and means, actuable by downward pressure on a plunger operator on top of said chuck, for drawing said chuck prongs together, further including piston means for exerting downward pressure on said plunger prior to the pick-up and delivery of a bottle thereto, said transporting means causing said bottle to be placed with said prongs extending into the neck thereof, said piston means being actuated to relieve said pressure after the delivering of said bottle thereto.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 306 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein said overhead conveyor, is aligned with said table conveyor and said bottle pick-up and transporting means consists of a plurality of bottle pick-up fingers mounted on a bar transverse of the paths of said bottles on said conveyors, said transverse bar being suspended between the first ends of a pair of transport arms extended along the sides of said overhead conveyor toward said pick-up position on said table conveyor, said arms being pivotally connected near their ends opposite said first ends to generally vertical members in turn pivotally connected at their opposite ends to fixed points, said vertical members being acted on at a point intermediate their ends by horizontally acting first piston rods and associated hydraulic cylinders pivotally secured to fixed points, the travel distance of said first piston rods and the relative dimensions and spacing of connection points of said first piston rods, vertical members and arms being such that the strokes of said first pistons cause said transverse bar to travel the distance between said pick-up position and said first set of chucks, each of said arms further being pivotally connected at a point intermediate its ends to a generally vertically disposed elevating member, said elevating member extending above said overhead conveyor and being pivotally connected to the outer end of a driving radial member, said driving radial members on the two sides of the apparatus being fixedly mounted on a common shaft extending across said machine, said shaft including a fixedly attached driven radial member, the outer end of which is pivotally connected to a second piston driving rod and associated hydraulic cylinder pivotally attached to a fixed point, the disposition of said radial arms being such that actuation of such second piston driving rod is transposed into substantially vertical movement of said elevating members.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 35 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 8, wherein the angle between said second piston driving rod and said driven radial member near at least one of the limits of movements of said member is substantially non-perpendicular.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 207 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 8, wherein along one of said arms is disposed a third piston arm and hydraulic cylinder for actuating same, said piston arm being pivotally connected to a first radial extension of a gripper finger actuating member, said finger actuating member being pivoted at a fixed point adjacent said transverse bar and further including a second radial extension generally perpendicular to said first extension, said second extension being pivotally connected to a gripper finger operator, said operator in turn being parallel to said transverse bar and guided and adapted to move along its length upon actuation of said third piston rod, said gripper finger operator further being pivotally connected to a plurality of lever members, each fixedly connected at its opposite end to a vertical shaft, each of said shafts in turn being fixedly connected to cam members disposed between a pair of opposed bottle finger grippers, said finger grippers being pivotally mounted on vertical shafts mounted on said transverse bar, each pair of finger grippers being urged toward one another in opposition to the separating function of said cams, said cams being shaped such that each pair of finger grippers are opened and closed by the traverse motion of said operator member.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 58 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 1, wherein said tank is pivotally connected at horizontally spaced positions to two sets of parallelogram guiding members, each set comprising a pair of parallel members pivotally attached, at one of their ends, to the tank at vertically spaced positions and pivotally attached, at the other of their ends to static vertical members.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 61 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 11, wherein a braking member attached to said tank includes vertical planar surfaces, further including fixedly mounted friction brake having friction surfaces opposing said planar surfaces and normally slightly spaced therefrom with means to cause said friction surfaces to engage said planar surfaces to stop vertical movement of said tank precisely at a particular vertical position.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 59 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 12, further including float means adapted to sense the upper surface of a fluidized bed in said tank at a predetermined vertical position relative to said second set of chucks and to provide an output braking signal responsive thereto, the upward vertical movement of said tank being stopped in response to said braking signal.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 38 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 11, further including means for maintaining a constant level of said bed in said tank and for stopping said upward vertical movement of said tank at a predetermined vertical position of said level.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 54 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 7, wherein said overhead conveyor consists of two parallel endless sprocket chains, each suspended between at least two vertical sproCket wheels horizontally displaced from one another, with chuck bars mounted traversely of said chains connected to elements thereof and suspended therebetween, said chucks being suspended from said chuck bars.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 153 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 10, wherein each chuck in said first set of chucks consists of at least three downwardly extended prongs all mutually urged away from one another and means, actuable by downward pressure on a plunger operator on top of said chuck, for drawing said chuck prongs together, further including piston means for exerting downward pressure on said plunger prior to the pick-up and delivery of a bottle thereto, said transporting means causing said bottle to be placed with said prongs extending into the neck thereof, said piston means being actuated to relieve said pressure after the delivering of said bottle thereto, and said overhead conveyor consists of two parallel endless sprocket chains, each suspended between at least two vertical sprocket wheels horizontally displaced from one another, with chuck bars mounted traversely of said chains connected to elements thereof and suspended therebetween, said chucks being suspended from said chuck bars.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 163 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 16, wherein said tank is pivotally connected at horizontally spaced positions to two sets of parallelogram guiding members, each set comprising a pair of parallel members pivotally attached, at one of their ends, to the tank at vertically spaced positions and pivotally attached, at the other of their ends to static vertical members, and wherein a mechanical means is provided for the raising and lowering thereof, and further including a float means adapted to sense the upper surface of a fluidized bed in said tank at a predetermined vertical position relative to said second set of chucks and to provide an output braking signal responseive thereto, the upward vertical movement of said tank being stopped in response to said braking signal, and wherein said upward vertical movement is stopped by inactivating said mechanical raising means and by activation of a friction brake having friction surfaces in engagement with vertical planar surfaces of a member attached to said tank.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 39 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 3, wherein said pairs of fingers are each suspended from a pivotal connection which permit each of said pairs of fingers to swing upwardly upon contact with a bottle during the downward movement thereof.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 47 words

Apparatus, as recited in claim 5, wherein said vertical suspending members are pivotally connected to said finger actuating portions in a manner permitting said pairs of fingers to be rotated upwardly and away from said bottles on said table conveyor upon contact therewith during downward movement thereof.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1978-08-25	1979-02-24	1979-08-26	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1982-08-25	1983-02-24	1983-08-26	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1986-08-25	1987-02-24	1987-08-26	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Apparatus for transfer and coating of bottles

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