Apparatus for inspection of glass containers

An apparatus for inspection of glass containers comprising:

• a horizontal circular table revolvably supported to revolve about a vertical axis;
• a guide ring disposed coaxially above and spaced apart from the circular table and joined integrally thereto to be revolvable unitarily therewith;
• driving means for driving the table;
• a rim-surface cam fixedly supported and comprising a vertical hollow cylinder disposed coaxially with the guide ring and having an upper rim surface forming an endless cam surface;
• a plurality of guide cylinders fixedly supported in upright state on the guide ring at equal spacing intervals therearound;
• an impact rod assembly having an impact rod and accommodated in a freely droppable manner within each guide cylinder;
• container grippers supported on the table at equal intervals therearound to revolve unitarily therewith and operating, as the table revolves, to successively grip respective glass containers to be inspected supplied in succession thereto from a production line, to carry the containers in a partially circular path as each container gripper holds upright its respective container in the drop path of a respective one of the impact rods, to release and reject the container if it fails to withstand impact by that impact rod, and to return the container, if thus withstands impact, to the production line;
• a sector adjustably supported on the inner side of the rim-surface cam to adjustably set the height of drop of the impact rod;
• first and second follower means rotatably supported on each impact rod assembly and adapted to travel respectively along the sector and the cam surface, the first follower means moving off a downstream end of the sector to permit the impact rod assembly to drop thereby to cause the lower end of the impact rod to strike against the inner side of the bottom of the corresponding container with a preset impact energy;
• and
• control means including a detection device for detecting any abnormal dropping motion of each impact rod due to breakage or dropping out of the bottom of a defective container, the control means thereupon causing the container gripper holding that container to release and reject the same.