Container manufacturing process having front-end winder assembly
AssigneeCrown Packaging Technology, Inc.
InventorsDaniel Egerton, David William Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A winder assembly is provided for rotating a component of a can necking machine to a desired angular position suitable for performing maintenance on the component. The winder assembly includes a shaft coupled to a motor of that drives the components of the can necking machine during operation. A handle can be removably connected to the shaft, such that rotation of the handle in a rotational direction correspondingly causes the shaft to rotate. The shaft causes the motor to rotate, which drives a gear train that rotates the components of the necking machine that are coupled to the gear train.
Claims20
A multi-stage can necking machine comprising:
- a plurality of operation stages, each operation stage including at least one rotating shaft projecting forward from a front end of a support;
- wherein each shaft includes a gear, and the gears of each operation stage are in meshed communication to form a continuous gear train;
- at least one motor operably coupled to the gear train and operable to transmit power to the gear train;
- and
- a winder assembly including a winder shaft operably coupled to the gear train and extending forward from the support, and the winder shaft is adapted to receive a handle, whereby the handle can be manually actuated to rotate the shafts of the plurality of operation stages via the gears to a desired angular position.
A multi-stage can necking machine comprising:
- a plurality of operation stages, each operation stage including a main turret shaft, a transfer starwheel shaft, wherein the turret shaft and the starwheel shaft project forward from a front end of a support;
- wherein each shaft includes a gear, and the gears of each operation stage are in meshed communication to form a continuous gear train;
- a plurality of motors that are distributed among the operation stages and coupled to the gear train, such that each of the motors transmits power to the gear train;
- and
- at least one winder assembly including a winder shaft operably coupled to the gear train and extending forward from the support, whereby the winder shaft can be actuated to rotate the shafts of the plurality of operation stages via the gears to a desired angular position.
A method of operating a multi-stage can necking machine of the type including a plurality of operation stages, each operation stage including at least one rotating shaft projecting forward from a front end of a support;
- wherein each shaft includes a gear, and the gears of each operation stage are in meshed communication to form a continuous gear train, at least one motor coupled to the gear train and operable to transmit power to the gear train;
- and a winder shaft operably coupled to the gear train and extending forward from the support, the method comprising the steps of:
- attaching a handle to the shaft so that the handle is rotatably coupled to the shaft;
- and
- manually rotating the handle such that the at least one rotating shaft of each operation stage rotates with the handle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.