US 4,278,173 AGranted

Combined plug and air warp neck finish gauge

AssigneeOwens-Illinois, Inc.

InventorsErnest H. Pemberton, John J. Pezzin, Darius O. Riggs, Thomas B. Sorbie

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Abstract

There is described a plug and air warp gauge which takes the form of an elongated vertically, reciprocated gauging head that is mechanically driven under the influence of a rotating cam. Coaxially within an annular head is positioned a plug which has a diameter such that it will pass through an unchoked neck of a bottle. The plug is attached to the lower end of a tube which is coaxially positioned within a larger tube. The larger tube is raised and lowered mechanically and when in its uppermost position, will support the plug-carrying tube. When the larger tube is lowered, the plug tube also is lowered. The lower end of the larger tube is in the form of an annular piston which will move downward within a cylinder that seats on the bottle finish. As the annular piston moves down, it will pressurize the inside of the bottle and the cylinder if the seal with the finish of the bottle is good. After the arrival of the larger tube at its lowest position, both the pressure generated in the bottle and cylinder and the position of the plug tube are observed for determining the presence or absence of a defective bottle.

Claims7

Dependent claims

Apparatus for simultaneously gauging the internal diameter and detecting the presence of unfilled or warped finishes of glass containers comprising:

a reference surface for supporting a container in an upright attitude;
a gauging head positioned axially above the neck of the container to be gauged;
means connected to said head for raising and lowering the head with a predetermined amplitude of movement;
said gauging head including an elongated plug having a predetermined external diameter adapted to pass through the neck opening of a glass container of acceptable size;
an annular collar surrounding said plug and adapted to move downward into sealing engagement with the top surface of the neck or finish of the container under test;
a first, vertically reciprocated, tube connected to the upper end of said plug;
a second, vertically reciprocated, tube surrounding said first tube;
an annular piston formed at the lower end of said second tube;
a cylinder connected to said annular collar, within which said annular piston is slideable;
and
means connected to said cylinder for measuring the pressure produced therein by movement of said piston with the collar sealed to the container finish as an indication of the integrity of the sealing surface of the container.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.