Capper chuck

In a capper chuck for applying a closure to a container by effecting relative rotation between the closure and the container, the capper chuck including housing means, gripper jaw means supported by said housing means for movement between an open condition adapted to receive a closure therein and a closed condition adapted to firmly retain the closure, linkage means interconnecting said gripper jaw means and operable to effect movement of said jaw means between said open and closed conditions, and control means mounted on said housing means and operatively associated with said linkage means to release said gripper jaw means from a closure in response to a predetermined rotational torque effected between the closure and an associated container upon relative rotation between the capper chuck and container, the improvement wherein said control means includes control plate means rotatably mounted on said housing means, coaxial with said capper chuck, spring means coaxial with said control plate and connected between said control plate means and said housing means and operative to transmit a predetermined rotational torque to said housing means upon rotation of said control plate means, and an actuating lever mounted on said housing means for cooperation with said control plate means and said linkage means, said control plate means and actuating lever being operative to effect release of said jaw means from a closure when said predetermined torque is effected between said closure and associated container.