US4378665A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Machine for orienting an article and performing a work operation on the article
Assignee: Label Aire Inc
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Filing: 1980-03-27
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Granted: 1983-04-05
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Expires: 2000-03-27
Abstract
Abstract An apparatus which grips an article on the opposite sides of the article to hold the article in a predetermined orientation. One or more work operations are performed on the article while it is held in the predetermined orientation. The article is gripped between a movable resilient member and a guide which holds the article against the movable resilient member.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael Crankshaw
- 👤 Leo Kucheck
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 05:59
CPC Classifications
B; B65; B65C; B65C9/00; B65C9/02; B65C9/40; B65C9/42; B65G; B65G29/00; B67; B67C; B67C3/00; B67C3/02; B67C3/22; B67C3/24
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
184 words
An apparatus for orienting articles which are moved along a path by a conveyor so that a work operation may be performed on the articles while the articles are oriented, said apparatus comprising: a wheel having a peripheral surface, at least a portion of said peripheral surface being resiliently deformable; means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis which extends generally transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor adjacent said wheel, said wheel being adapted to lie at least partially in the path of the articles conveyed to the wheel by the conveyor; motor means for rotating said wheel about said rotational axis; and guide means adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel for urging articles conveyed to the peripheral surface of said wheel against the peripheral surface to resiliently deform the peripheral surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in a predetermined orientation whereby the articles are captured between the guide means and the wheel and held in a predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus so that the work operation can be performed.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
184 words
An apparatus for orienting articles which are moved along a path by a conveyor so that a work operation may be performed on the articles while the articles are oriented, said apparatus comprising: a wheel having a peripheral surface, at least a portion of said peripheral surface being resiliently deformable; means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis which extends generally transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor adjacent said wheel, said wheel being adapted to lie at least partially in the path of the articles conveyed to the wheel by the conveyor; motor means for rotating said wheel about said rotational axis; and guide means adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel for urging articles conveyed to the peripheral surface of said wheel against the peripheral surface to resiliently deform the peripheral surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in a predetermined orientation whereby the articles are captured between the guide means and the wheel and held in a predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus so that the work operation can be performed.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said path adjacent said apparatus is generally horizontal and said rotational axis extends generally vertically.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein at least a portion of said peripheral surface is horizontally displaced from the conveyor and said wheel and said guide means cooperate to laterally remove the articles from the conveyor and to return the articles to the conveyor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said peripheral surface is curved and said guide means includes a curved rail adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel, said articles being held in said predetermined orientation between said curved rail and the peripheral surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
38 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1 including article sensing means for providing a signal when one of the articles is captured by the wheel and the guide means and when such captured article reaches a predetermined position.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said peripheral surface of said wheel is substantially cylindrical.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for orienting articles which are moved past a work station so that a work operation can be performed on the articles while the articles are oriented, said apparatus comprising: orienting means for guiding the articles along a predetermined path and for retaining said articles in a predetermined angular orientation as the articles are moved through said path, said path passing through a work station; said orienting means including a wheel having a peripheral surface for engaging the articles on at least one side thereof, at least a portion of the peripheral surface of said wheel being resiliently deformable, and means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis with the peripheral surface being movable along said path, said rotational axis extending generally transverse to the direction of movement of the articles along said path; and said orienting means including means cooperable with the wheel for engaging the articles on at least the other side thereof to urge the articles against the resilient deformable surface and into said resilient, deformable surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in said predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus as such articles move through the work station.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
201 words
An apparatus for orienting articles which are moved past a work station so that a work operation can be performed on the articles while the articles are oriented, said apparatus comprising: orienting means for guiding the articles along a predetermined path and for retaining said articles in a predetermined angular orientation as the articles are moved through said path, said path passing through a work station; said orienting means including a wheel having a peripheral surface for engaging the articles on at least one side thereof, at least a portion of the peripheral surface of said wheel being resiliently deformable, and means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis with the peripheral surface being movable along said path, said rotational axis extending generally transverse to the direction of movement of the articles along said path; and said orienting means including means cooperable with the wheel for engaging the articles on at least the other side thereof to urge the articles against the resilient deformable surface and into said resilient, deformable surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in said predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus as such articles move through the work station.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said cooperable means includes a first curved rail and means for mounting the first rail for engagement with said other side of the articles.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
186 words
An apparatus for performing a work operation on articles which are moved along a path by a conveyor, said apparatus comprising: a wheel having a peripheral surface, at least a portion of said peripheral surface being resiliently deformable; means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis which extends generally transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor adjacent said wheel, said wheel being adapted to lie at least partially in the path of the articles conveyed to the wheel by the conveyor; motor means for rotating said wheel about said rotational axis; guide means adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel for urging articles conveyed to the peripheral surface of said wheel against the peripheral surface to resiliently deform the peripheral surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in a predetermined orientation whereby the articles are captured between the guide means and the wheel and held in a predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus; and means for performing a work operation on each of the articles when each of said articles is held in said predetermined orientation.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
186 words
An apparatus for performing a work operation on articles which are moved along a path by a conveyor, said apparatus comprising: a wheel having a peripheral surface, at least a portion of said peripheral surface being resiliently deformable; means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis which extends generally transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor adjacent said wheel, said wheel being adapted to lie at least partially in the path of the articles conveyed to the wheel by the conveyor; motor means for rotating said wheel about said rotational axis; guide means adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel for urging articles conveyed to the peripheral surface of said wheel against the peripheral surface to resiliently deform the peripheral surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in a predetermined orientation whereby the articles are captured between the guide means and the wheel and held in a predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus; and means for performing a work operation on each of the articles when each of said articles is held in said predetermined orientation.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
57 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 including article sensing means for providing a signal when one of the articles is captured by the wheel and the guide means and when such captured article reaches a predetermined position, and said performing means includes means responsive to said signal for performing said work operation on such captured article.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
64 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein at least a portion of said peripheral surface is horizontally displaced from the conveyor and said wheel and said guide means cooperate to laterally remove the articles from the conveyor and to return the articles to the conveyor, said performing means performs said work operation on the articles while such articles are removed from the conveyor.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said article is a container and said performing means includes means for filling said container.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein the articles include containers having openings and said performing means includes means for closing the openings of the containers.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
181 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein the articles include containers and said performing means includes a container filling device, said container filling device including a plurality of filler assemblies, means for mounting said filler assemblies for movement along an endless path with at least a portion of said endless path extending along the path which the articles move along when they are captured between the guide means and the wheel, each of said filler assemblies includes a filler tube for depositing a material into at least one of the containers, sensing means for providing a signal when one of the containers is captured by the wheel and the guide means and when such captured container reaches a predetermined position and means responsive to each of said signals for causing one of the filler assemblies to move with a corresponding captured container to at least partially fill such corresponding captured containers with material while such containers are captured by the wheel and the guide means whereby the filling device can be used to at least partially fill randomly spaced containers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
100 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein at least a portion of said peripheral surface is horizontally displaced from the conveyor and said wheel and said guide means cooperate to laterally remove the articles from the conveyor and to return the articles to the conveyor, said performing means performs said work operation on the articles while such articles are removed from the conveyor, said peripheral surface is curved and said guide means includes a curved rail adjacent said peripheral surface of said wheel, said articles being held in said predetermined orientation between said curved rail and the peripheral surface.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
180 words
An apparatus for performing a work operation on articles which are moved past a work station, said apparatus comprising: orienting means for guiding the articles along a predetermined path and for retaining said articles in a predetermined angular orientation as the articles are moved through said path, said path passing through the work station; means for performing a work operation on the articles at the work station while such articles are held in said predetermined orientation; said orienting means including first means for engaging the articles on at least one side thereof, said first means having a resilient, deformable surface and means for mounting said first means for movement along said path at the work station; and said orienting means including means cooperable with the first means for engaging the articles on at least the other side thereof to urge the articles against the resilient deformable surface and into said resilient, deformable surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in said predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus as such articles move through the work station.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
180 words
An apparatus for performing a work operation on articles which are moved past a work station, said apparatus comprising: orienting means for guiding the articles along a predetermined path and for retaining said articles in a predetermined angular orientation as the articles are moved through said path, said path passing through the work station; means for performing a work operation on the articles at the work station while such articles are held in said predetermined orientation; said orienting means including first means for engaging the articles on at least one side thereof, said first means having a resilient, deformable surface and means for mounting said first means for movement along said path at the work station; and said orienting means including means cooperable with the first means for engaging the articles on at least the other side thereof to urge the articles against the resilient deformable surface and into said resilient, deformable surface sufficiently to capture the articles and hold the articles in said predetermined orientation during normal operation of the apparatus as such articles move through the work station.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
88 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16 wherein said cooperable means includes a first curved rail and means for mounting the first rail for engagement with said other side of the articles, said apparatus including article sensing means for providing a signal when one of the articles is captured by said first means and said cooperable means and when said captured article reaches a predetermined position along said path, and said performing means includes means responsive to said signal for performing said work operation on such captured article.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
55 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16 wherein the articles are moved by a conveyor and said first means and said cooperable means removes the articles from the conveyor and returns the articles to the conveyor and said performing means performs said work operation on the articles while such articles are removed from the conveyor.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 18 wherein the articles are moved laterally off the conveyor by said first means and said cooperable means, said apparatus includes a platform adjacent the conveyor at the location where the articles are moved laterally off the conveyor and the articles are moved over said platform.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16 wherein said cooperable means includes a first rail and means for mounting the first rail for engagement with said other side of the articles.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
61 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16 including article sensing means for providing a signal when one of the articles is captured by said first means and said cooperable means and when such captured article reaches a predetermined position along said path, and said performing means includes means responsive to said signal for performing the work operation on such captured article.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
63 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16 wherein said first means includes a wheel having a peripheral surface with at least a portion of the peripheral surface of said wheel being resiliently deformable, said mounting means includes means for mounting said wheel for rotation about a rotational axis which extends generally transverse to the direction of movement of the articles along said path.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1986-04-04 | 1986-10-04 | 1987-04-05 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1990-04-04 | 1990-10-04 | 1991-04-05 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1994-04-04 | 1994-10-04 | 1995-04-05 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |