Capping apparatus

Apparatus for applying caps to containers such as glass vials or bottles, the containers being of the type having a neck and a flange on the neck at the mouth end thereof, and the caps being of the type having an annular skirt adapted to surround the flange and to be crimped under the flange, said apparatus comprising:

• endless conveyor means;
• a series of sets of grippers carried by the conveyor means spaced at equal intervals therearound, each set being adapted to grip a container at the top and bottom of the container;
• said conveyor means being movable to move the sets of grippers through an endless generally horizontal path with containers held in an upright position, and to carry each set of grippers from a loading station where a container with a cap thereon is delivered to the set through a crimping zone for crimping the cap and thence to an unloading station where the container is unloaded from the set;
• means for continuously driving said conveyor means;
• means for delivering a container to a set of grippers as the set travels through the loading station;
• means for placing a cap on the mouth end of each container prior to its delivery to a set of grippers;
• each set of grippers comprising a bottom and a top gripper adapted to grip a container in upright position therebetween, said bottom and top grippers being relatively movable on said endless conveyor means between an open position for delivery of a container with a cap thereon on to the lower gripper and a closed position for gripping the container with the cap thereon, and also being rotatable relative to the conveyor means;
• means for continuously rotating the top grippers as the conveyor means carries the sets of grippers through said endless path for rotating the containers and the caps thereon;
• means for effecting relative movement to closed position of the bottom and top grippers of each set of grippers as the set travels away from the loading station, for holding them closed as they travel through said crimping zone, and for effecting relative movement to open position of the bottom and top grippers of each set as the set travels out of the crimping zone to the unloading station,
• a series of cap crimping tools, one for each set of grippers, carried by the conveyor means;
• each of said crimping tools being mounted on the conveyor means for movement from a retracted position spaced from a cap on the container gripped in the respective set of grippers to a crimping position in crimping engagement with the skirt of the cap for crimping the skirt under the flange of the container;
• means for moving each crimping tool to its crimping position as the respective set of grippers moves from the loading station into the crimping zone, holding the tool in crimping position for crimping the cap on the container as the container travels through the crimping zone and then retracting it;
• and means for unloading containers from the sets of grippers at the unloading station.