In-line bottle rinser

A rinser for bottles and the like, comprising conveyor means having a substantially in-line path for a portion of its travel and having a plurality of bottle carriers attached thereto by a mounting pivotable in a plane non-parallel to the conveyor path;

• loading means placing bottles from an external source in said carriers;
• guide means pivoting the carriers and contained bottles about said pivotal mounting without direct bottle contact, the bottles remaining in a defined position with respect to their carriers;
• rinse means spraying the pivoted bottles with rinse liquid;
• and unloading means removing the rinsed bottles from the carriers;
• said loading means, guide means, rinse means, and unloading means operating along said in-line path of the conveyor means.

An in-line rinser for bottles and the like, comprising:

• (a) an endless bottle conveyor chain having a plurality of bottle carriers connected to the chain by a pivotal mounting and having a substantially straight path for a portion of its travel, said carriers being pivotable on said mountings in a plane non-parallel to the straight path of the chain;
• (b) loading means synchronized with said conveyor chain and feeding bottles from an external supply into said carriers,
• (c) guide means pivoting said carriers and their contained bottles in a plane substantially perpendicular to the straight path of said conveyor chain without directly contacting the bottles to avoid abrasion damage, the carriers retaining the bottles in defined relative position throughout the pivoting motion,
• (d) rinse means spraying the pivoted bottles within said carriers with rinse liquid, and
• (e) unloading means synchronized with said conveyor chain and removing the rinsed bottles from the carriers and directing them to an exterior point, said loading means, guide means, rinse means, and unloading means operating along said straight path of the chain.

An in-line rinser for bottles and the like comprising:

• (a) a conveyor carrying a succession of bottles in predetermined locations with respect to the length of the conveyor;
• (b) spray means for spraying rinse liquid into passing bottles on the conveyor through an angle that varies with respect to each bottle;
• (c) said spray means comprising a circular rotatable nozzle manifold with a plurality of spray nozzles mounted in its circumferential edge, synchronizing means connected to the conveyor for rotating the manifold through a spray arc in response to the passage of said predetermined bottle locations of the conveyor, and means delivering a supply of rinse liquid to the manifold;
• (d) sealing means covering a portion of the circumferential edge of said circular nozzle manifold;
• and
• (e) means for limiting radially outward movement of the nozzles with respect to said circular nozzle manifold but permitting the nozzles to be pushed radially inwardly by said sealing means.

In combination with a conveyor for bottles for use with bottle rinsing means, an improved bottle carrier characterized by the absence of springs and rollers, for use with a necked bottle of predetermined axial height and shape, comprising:

• (a) a lengthwise member approximately parallel to and spaced from the vertical axis of a carried bottle and spaced from the side wall of the bottle;
• (b) a bottom member substantially perpendicular to the lengthwise member and contacting at least a portion of the bottom of a carried bottle;
• (c) a pair of side arms angling obliquely from said lengthwise member toward the carried bottle and contacting the side of the bottle;
• and
• (d) a flexible bottle neck retaining member connected to said lengthwise member and angling acutely toward said bottom member for urging a bottle into the carrier and assisting in retaining the bottle against said bottom and side members, said neck retaining member contacting the bottle between the finish and the bottom of the bottle for improved exposure of the finish to rinse liquid.