Method and apparatus for applying sleeves to necks of bottles and other containers
AssigneeB & H Manufacturing Company, Inc.
InventorWolfgang Hoffmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Tubular sleeves are formed by continuously supplying a continuous web of sheet material to a cutter, cutting individual sleeves in succession from the web, forming each severed sleeve into a cylindrical tube by attaching one end of the sleeve to a rotating mandrel by means of suction, spinning the mandrel with the sleeve attached thereto so as to wrap the sleeve around the mandrel and form a tube, slipping the tube off of the mandrel and onto the neck of a container and then conforming the sleeve to the shape of the neck as by mechanical means or by heat-shrinking.
Claims34
Apparatus for applying sleeves to the neck portions of containers each having a body portion and a neck portion tapering upwardly from the junction of the neck and body, the neck having a lesser diameter than the body, comprising:
- (a) at least one cylindrical mandrel supported for rotation about its cylindrical axis and with one end free, said mandrel having an outside diameter substantially less than the diameter of the body portion of the container but sufficient to allow a sleeve formed by wrapping a sleeve material about the mandrel to fit over the neck of the container,
- (b) means for rotating the mandrel about its cylindrical axis,
- (c) means for applying one end of a segment of flexible sleeve material to the rotating mandrel,
- (d) means for then relesably adhering the segment to the rotating mandrel whereby the segment is rolled into a tube about the mandrel,
- (e) means for supporting a container in axial alignment with the mandrel with the upper end of its non-cylindrical portion close to but spaced from the free end of the mandrel,
- (f) said means (c), (d) and (e) being so arranged that said tube is spaced from the upper end of the container and so that the mandrel is at all times spaced from the upper end of the container, and
- (g) means for sliding the aforesaid tube off of the mandrel and onto the container.
Apparatus for capping a beverage or the like bottle having a body, a neck of less diameter than the body, and a stopper, comprising a plurality of cylindrically shaped mandrels, each of a diameter less than the body of the bottles, mechanism for cutting individual cap forming sheet sections from a parent strip of material, means for gripping successive cap forming sections on successive mandrels while the respective mandrels are rotated to form cylindrically shaped sleeves thereon of a diameter less than the body of the bottle, mechanism for positioning the tops of a succession of bottles below the respective mandrels and in line with the lower ends of said respective mandrels, mechanism for slipping each thus formed sleeve downwardly from the mandrel onto the bottle with its lower end supported on the body of the bottle, the sleeve being of a length sufficient to extend above the top of the bottle, and mechanism operable after the sleeve is slipped onto the bottle for longitudinally creasing the top portion of the sleeve inwardly at spaced apart locations and for deforming the upper end of the sleeve inwardly over the top of the stopper to preform said sleeve partially to the shape of the neck.
Apparatus for capping a beverage or the like bottle having a neck and a stopper, comprising a cylindrically shaped mandrel, mechanism for rotating the mandrel about its axis, mechanism for gripping a cap forming sheet on said mandrel while it is rotated to form a sleeve thereon, mechanism for positioning the top of the bottle in line with an end of the mandrel, mechanism for slipping the thus formed sleeve from the mandrel onto the bottle, the sleeve being of a length sufficient to extend above the top of the bottle, and mechanism operable after the sleeve is slipped onto the bottle for longitudinally creasing the top portion of the sleeve inwardly at spaced apart locations and for deforming the upper end of the sleeve inwardly over the top of the stopper to preform said sleeve partially to the shape of the neck;
- the mechanism for gripping the cap forming strip on the mandrel comprising a longitudinally apertured portion of the mandrel, and means for applying suction thereto to grip an end portion of the strip which has adhesive on its outside face and to relieve the suction when the sleeve has been formed and the opposite end portion of the strip is adhered to said outside face of the strip;
- the mechanism for slipping the sleeve from the mandrel comprising a ring about the mandrel mounted for up and down movement axially of the mandrel and gripping fingers pivotally mounted on said ring operable to engage the upper end of the sleeve while on the mandrel when the ring is moved downwardly;
- the mechanism for creasing the top portion of the sleeve and for deforming the upper end of the sleeve comprising creasing blades movably mounted on said ring for in and out movement relative to said mandrel and operable to engage said sleeve in the downward position of the ring, and a cavity in the lower end of the mandrel which effects said deformation of said upper end of the sleeve;
- and mechanism for molding the partially preformed sleeve comprising spaced apart freely journalled rotatable rollers, means for rotating the bottle about its axis between said rollers with the sleeve thereon, means for pressing the rollers against the sleeve while the bottle is rotated, a mold cavity having a shape complementary to the stopper end of the bottle, and means for effecting engagement of the upper deformed end of the sleeve against the mold cavity.
In apparatus for capping a beverage or the like bottle having a generally conically shaped neck and a stopper, mechanism for preforming a sleeve of capping material over the neck of the bottle and over the stopper comprising a mandrel, means for forming said sleeve on the mandrel, a cavity in the lower end of the mandrel, a ring about the mandrel mounted for up and down movement axially of the mandrel, sleeve gripping fingers movably mounted on the ring, means for actuating said fingers to grip the sleeve and slip it off the mandrel over the neck of the bottle when the ring is moved downwardly, the sleeve being of a length sufficient to extend above the top of the bottle, creasing blades movably mounted on said ring for in and out movement relative to the mandrel operable to engage said sleeve in a downward position of the ring, means for urging the blades inwardly, cam means on the blades cooperable with said mandrel for allowing inward and outward movement of the blades, and means for effecting relative axial movement between the top end of the bottle and the mandrel cavity to press the top end of the sleeve in the mandrel cavity.
Apparatus for continuously forming bottle capping sheets for stoppered beverage bottles or the like having tapered necks and for continuously capping a successive of said bottles with a succession of said sheets comprising:
- (a) a capping sheet forming section,
- (b) a section for forming cylindrical sleeves and preforming them to conform partially to the shape of the bottle necks and over their stoppers, and
- (c) a section for molding successive sleeves to the shape of the necks and stopper ends of the bottles;
- said capping sheet forming section (a) comprising means for continuously feeding a parent strip of material from which the capping sheet can be severed, means for severing successive capping sheets from said parent strip, a vacuum drum having means for gripping successive capping sheets thus severed and releasing them to the sleeve forming and preforming section (b), and means for applying adhesive to the outer face of each successive capping sheet;
- the sleeve forming and shape-preforming section (b) comprising a succession of cylindrically shaped mandrels about which the sleeves are formed, each having a longitudinally apertured portion, means for continuously moving the mandrels adjacent the vacuum drum, means for applying suction to the mandrels to grip the leading edge of successive capping sheets to transfer them from the vacuum drum and to relieve suction on the mandrels when the sleeves have been formed thereon, means for rotating the mandrels about their axes to wrap the capping sheets therearound and form said sleeves on the respective mandrels, means for conveying and positioning a succession of bottles with their tops in line with the ends of successive mandrels, a support ring about each mandrel and means for moving each ring up and down axially of the mandrel, gripping fingers pivotally mounted on each ring operable to engage the upper end of the sleeve thereon and to slip the sleeve over the neck of the bottle in a downward position of the ring, creasing blades movably mounted on each ring for in and out movement relative to the associated mandrel operable to engage the sleeve in such downward position of the ring, a deforming cavity in the lower end of each mandrel shaped to effect inward deformation of the respective sleeves over the stoppered end of the respective bottles, and means for effecting relative movement between each mandrel and alined bottle to bring the deformed upper end of the sleeve in engagement with said deforming cavity;
- and said molding section (c) comprising conveying and positioning means for receiving a succession of bottles with preformed caps thereon from transfer means between said sleeve forming and shape preforming section (b) and said capping sheet forming section (a), sets of spaced apart freely journalled rotatable rollers, means for mounting and moving such sets in alinement with the bottles on said conveying and positioning means of said molding section (c), means for rotating successive bottles about their respective axes, means for pressing the sets of rollers against the sleeves on the respective bottles as they are rotated about their axes, a plurality of mold cavities each having a shape complementary to the stopper end of the respective bottles, means for mounting and conveying the mold cavities in alinement with the tops of such bottles, and means for effecting relative movement between each mold cavity and alined bottle to effect engagement of the stoppered end and the mold cavity as the bottle is rotated about its axis.
A method of applying sleeves to non-cylindrical portions of containers which comprises the following steps:
- (a) presenting in succession segments of sleeve material
- (b) applying one end of each sleeve segment to a rotating cylindrical mandrel having one end free, detachably adhering such end to the mandrel and wrapping the segment around the rotating mandrel to form a tubular sleeve
- (c) supporting a container having a non-cylindrical portion in axial alignment with the mandrel with its upper end close to the free end of the mandrel, the mandrel bearing a tubular sleeve formed in step (b) and
- (d) slipping each tubular sleeve off of its mandrel and onto a container.
The method of capping a beverage bottle or the like having a tapered neck and a stopper, which comprises providing a continuous strip of material as a sleeve supply source, continuously conveying a succession of such bottles to a sleeve forming station, cutting a succession of individual sleeve sections from said strip, providing a succession of cylindrical mandrels each rotatable about its axis and of a diameter less than the body of the bottle whereby a preformed sleeve section wrapped about a mandrel can be supported with its lower edge engaging the body of the bottle, transferring each successive sleeve section to a cylindrical mandrel, rotating each mandrel to wrap the sleeve section thereon and form a preformed cylindrical sleeve, bringing each successive bottle in line with a mandrel below the lower edge of the sleeve formed on said mandrel, sliding the preformed cylindrical sleeve off of the mandrel directly over the neck of the bottle with its lower edge engaging the body of the bottle whereby said sleeve is supported on the body of the bottle, partially preforming each sleeve to the shape of the neck and over the stopper, and molding such preformed sleeve under pressure to conform to the shape of the neck and the stopper.
The method of capping a beverage or the like bottle having a tapered neck and a stopper, with material capable of assuming a dead set condition when creased or folded, which comprises providing a sleeve of said material, placing said sleeve over the bottle neck, partially preforming the sleeve to the shape of the neck and over the stopper, and molding the preformed sleeve under pressure to conform to the neck and the stopper;
- said method further comprising providing a continuous strip of material as a sleeve supply source, continuously conveying a succession of such bottles to a sleeve forming station, continuously feeding said strip to said station, cutting a succession of individual sleeve sections from said strip, applying adhesive to the trailing edge portion of the outer face of each successive sleeve section, providing a succession of cylindrical mandrels rotatable about their axes, transferring each adhesive applied section to a mandrel, rotating each mandrel and wrapping the sleeve section about the mandrel to form a sleeve thereon, bringing each successive bottle in line with a mandrel, and tranferring the sleeve formed on the mandrel over the neck of the bottle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.