Orienting and filling casks

Claim 2

A cask orienting, filling and shive inserting machine, said machine having a rest station, a filling station and an intermediate orientation station for casks; advancing means to simultaneously elevate casks in the rest and orientation stations and advance them respectively to the orientation and filling stations; ejection means to eject a cask in the filling station in timed relation to the transfer of the following cask from the orientation station and in advance of said following cask arriving at the filling station; an orientation means; means to rotate the cask about its longitudinal axis while at the orientation station until said orientation means engages in a peripheral shive hole in the cask thereby preventing further rotation thereof, a cask filling and shive inserting means for the oriented cask located at the filling station, said cask filling and shive inserting means comprising a racking spear; an extensible and contractable assembly to introduce the spear through the shive hole of the oriented cask at the filling station; sealing means on the spear to sealingly engage the exterior of the cask around the shive hole; gas delivery means on the racking spear to pass compressed gas therethrough; liquid delivery means on the racking spear to pass liquid therethrough; first detector means on the racking spear to detect gas pressure in a cask to be filled with liquid; second detector means on the racking spear to detect liquid level in a cask being filled; pressure equalising means to open at a predetermined pressure to connect the pressurized interior of the cask with a pressurized header tank of liquid connected to the liquid delivery means and to close when the pressure in the cask drops below said predetermined pressure; first valve means to regulate the flow of liquid the opening of which is controlled by the first detector means and the closing of which is controlled by the second detector means; second valve means to shut off the flow of gas to the cask controlled by the first detector means; the first control means incorporating said first and second detector means being operable to actuate said extensible and contractable assembly to lower said racking spear into the cask and to engage the sealing means on the cask to admit gas to the cask and said assembly being operable after filling of the cask to withdraw the spear by contraction of said extensible and contractable assembly; and shive storing and delivery means to store and then position one shive for each cask that has been filled over the shive hole of that cask in timed relation to the withdrawal of the racking spear, and means to control the re-extension of the extensible and contractable assembly to engage the racking spear with the shive and to force the shive into the shive hole of the filled cask.

Claim 3

The machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein there are provided spaced side frames with contours on the frames to support the casks adjacent their ends when in the rest and filling stations, a pair of rollers to cradle the cask in the orientation station, drive means to rotate the rollers, a table movable longitudinally of the side frames, means to move the table longitudinally, means to raise the table and support it during longitudinal movement and to lower the table, support means on the table to engage the casks in the rest and orientation stations as the table is raised and to support those casks while the table moves longitudinally to transport the casks to the orientation and filling stations respectively and until they are deposited in the filling and orientation stations by lowering movement of the table.

Claim 4

The machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means to eject the cask from the filling station includes raisable ejection arms to engage under and dislodge a cask from the filling station as the table is raised.

Claim 5

The machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the orientation means is a plunger which peripherally rides on the cask as it rotates in alignment with the cask shive hole until the plunger engages in the shive hole, and means to raise the plunger out of the shive hole once the cask is raised clear of said rollers in the operation of moving the cask from the orientation station to the filling station.

Claim 6

The machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means to raise and lower the table comprises a piston and cylinder assembly respectively end connected to the side frames and to one arm of a first bell crank means fulcrummed on the side frames, link means coupling the said one arm to one arm of a second bell crank means fulcrummed on the side frames, and pulleys on the other arms of both bell crank means on which said table is supported at all times.

Claim 7

The machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the means to longitudinally move the table is a piston and cylinder assembly respectively end connected to the table and to the side frames.

Claim 8

The machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the raisable ejection arms are linked to the other arm of the first bell crank means so as to be raised to eject a cask from the filling station when the table is raised.

Claim 9

The machine claimed in claim 1 wherein the extensible and contractable assembly comprises a first piston and cylinder combination to insert and withdraw the racking spear in the liquid filling operation and a second piston and cylinder combination in axial tandem arrangement with the first piston and cylinder assembly for inserting the shive in the shive hole of a cask; said shive delivery means comprising a shive magazine, a delivery arm, a shive holder on the delivery arm, actuating means to move the arm to a first position to cause engagement of the shive holder with a shive in the magazine and to a second position where the shive is located over the shive hole of a cask and to a third position where an anvil plate on the delivery arm overlies the shive hole of a cask; said first control means also controlling the actuating means in timed relation to the removal of the racking spear to sequentially locate the delivery arm in the second position and to extend the second of said tandem piston and cylinder assemblies to remove the shive from the fingers and to partially insert it into the shive hole and to withdraw the racking spear by contraction of the second tandem piston and cylinder assembly and to move the delivery arm to the third location and to extend the second tandem piston and cylinder assembly a second time to engage the anvil and exert pressure on the anvil to push the shive fully into the shive hole.

Claim 10

A cask orienting, filling and shive inserting machine comprising an elongated main frame, a first cask support means fixed to and located adjacent one end of the main frame, a second cask support means fixed to and located adjacent the other end of the main frame, a third cask support means positioned half way between the first and second cask support means on the main frame, said third cask support means comprising a pair of continuously driven spaced apart rollers mounted on the main frame with axes of location transverse to the main frame; an elongated sub-frame; side rails at the long sides of the sub-frame, two spaced apart cask supports on the sub-frame with the spacing being equal to the spacing between the first and third cask support means of the main frame; a first piston and cylinder combination linking the sub-frame to the main frame to move the sub-frame from a first position where the cask supports thereon are respectively aligned with the first and third cask support means of the main frame to a second position where said last-mentioned cask supports are aligned with the second and third cask support means of the main frame and to then return the sub-frame to the first position; four wheel arms pivotally mounted on the main frame and a wheel on each wheel arm; a linkage connecting the wheel arms; a second piston and cylinder combination connecting the linkage to the main frame to move the wheels into engagement with the rails of the sub-frame and to raise the sub-frame in timed relationship with the operation of the first piston and cylinder combination so that casks on the cask support means of the main frame are raised clear of the supports on the sub-frame prior to the movement of the sub-frame by the first piston and cylinder combination; cask bung hole orientation means located over the third support so as to be in the path of the cask bung hole as the cask is rotated by the third cask support means and to engage in said bung hole to prevent continued rotation of the cask, means to raise and lower said orientation means; a cask ejector comprising ejector arms pivotally connected to the main frame, links connecting said ejector arms to the wheel arms so as to move synchronously therewith to eject any cask located on the second cask support means of the main frame each time the wheel arms are moved by the second piston and cylinder combination; a cask filling and shive inserting means for the oriented cask located at the filling station; said cask filling and shive inserting means comprising a racking spear, an extensible and contractable assembly to introduce the spear through the shive hole of the oriented cask at the filling station, sealing means on the spear to sealingly engage the exterior of the cask around the shive hole, gas delivery means on the racking spear to pass compressed gas therethrough, liquid delivery means on the racking spear to pass liquid therethrough, first detector means on the racking spear to detect gas pressure in a cask to be filled with liquid, second detector means on the racking spear to detect liquid level in a cask being filled, pressure equalizing means to open at a predetermined pressure to connect the pressurized interior of the cask with a pressurized header tank of liquid connected to the liquid delivery means and to close when the pressure in the cask drops below said predetermined pressure, first valve means to regulate the flow of liquid, the opening of said first valve means being controlled by the first detector means and the closing of said first valve means being controlled by the second detector means, second valve means to shut off the flow of gas to the cask controlled by the first detector means, the first control means incorporating said first and second detector means being operable to actuate said extensible and contractable assembly to lower said racking spear into the cask and to engage the sealing means on the cask to admit gas to the cask and said assembly being operable after filling of the cask to withdraw the spear by contraction of said extensible and contractable assembly; and shive storing and delivery means to store and then position one shive for each cask that has been filled over the shive hole of that cask in timed relation to the withdrawal of the racking spear, and means to control the re-extension of the extensible and contractable assembly to engage the racking spear with the shive and to force the shive into the shive hole of the filled cask.

Claim 11

A cask orienting, filling and shive inserting machine comprising an elongated main frame, a first cask support means fixed to and located adjacent one end of the main frame, a second cask support means fixed to and located adjacent the other end of the main frame, a third cask support means positioned half way between the first and second cask support means on the main frame, said third cask support means comprising a pair of continuously driven spaced apart rollers mounted on the main frame with axes of location transverse to the main frame; an elongated sub-frame; side rails at the long sides of the sub-frame, two spaced apart cask supports on the sub-frame with the spacing being equal to the spacing between the first and third cask support means of the main frame; a first piston and cylinder combination linking the sub-frame to the main frame to move the sub-frame from a first position where the cask supports thereon are respectively aligned with the first and third cask support means of the main frame to a second position where said last-mentioned cask supports are aligned with the second and third cask support means of the main frame and to then return the sub-frame to the first position; four wheel arms pivotally mounted on the main frame and a wheel on each wheel arm; a linkage connecting the wheel arms; a second piston and cylinder combination connecting the linkage to the main frame to move the wheels into engagement with the rails of the sub-frame and to raise the sub-frame in timed relationship with the operation of the first piston and cylinder combination so that casks on the cask support means of the main frame are raised clear of the supports on the sub-frame prior to the movement of the sub-frame by the first piston and cylinder combination; cask bung hole orientation means located over the third support so as to be in the path of the cask bung hole as the cask is rotated by the third cask support means and to engage in said bung hole to prevent continued rotation of the cask, means to raise and lower said orientation means; a cask ejector comprising ejector arms pivotally connected to the main frame, links connecting said ejector arms to the wheel arms so as to move synchronously therewith to eject any cask located on the second cask support means of the main frame each time the wheel arms are moved by the second piston and cylinder combination; a cask filling and shive inserting means for the oriented cask located at the filling station; said cask filling and shive inserting means comprising a racking spear, an extensible and contractable assembly to introduce the spear through the shive hole of the oriented cask at the filling station, sealing means on the spear to sealingly engage the exterior of the cask around the shive hole, gas delivery means on the racking spear to pass compressed gas therethrough, liquid delivery means on the racking spear to pass liquid therethrough, first detector means on the racking spear to detect gas pressure in a cask to be filled with liquid, second detector means on the racking spear to detect liquid level in a cask being filled, pressure equalizing means to open at a predetermined pressure to connect the pressurized interior of the cask with a pressurized header tank of liquid connected to the liquid delivery means and to close when the pressure in the cask drops below said predetermined pressure, first valve means to regulate the flow of liquid, the opening of said first valve means being controlled by the first detector means and the closing of said first valve means being controlled by the second detector means, second valve means to shut off the flow of gas to the cask controlled by the first detector means, the first control means incorporating said first and second detector means being operable to actuate said extensible and contractable assembly to lower said racking spear into the cask and to engage the sealing means on the cask to admit gas to the cask and said assembly being operable after filling of the cask to withdraw the spear by contraction of said extensible and contractable assembly; and shive storing and delivery means to store and then position one shive for each cask that has been filled over the shive hole of that cask in timed relation to the withdrawal of the racking spear, and means to control the re-extension of the extensible and contractable assembly to engage the racking spear with the shive and to force the shive into the shive hole of the filled cask.

Claim 12

The machine claimed in claim 9, wherein the orientation means is a conical plunger lead to engage the cask bung hole, a plunger fixed to the plunger lead, a piston on the plunger and a cylinder housing the piston and pivotally mounted on an axis parallel to said roller axes.

Claim 13

The machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein said four wheel arms are arranged in pairs with each pair comprising a portion of a bell crank, two shafts pivotally mounted in the main frame parallel to the roller axes, a bell crank fixed to each shaft, said linkage connecting the bell cranks, a lower arm fixed to one shaft, said first piston and cylinder combination connecting said power arm to said main frame.