Dispensing method and apparatus
AssigneeUniversal Nominees Pty. Ltd.
InventorTaki Stanton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for dispensing plastic material from an extruder into a container; "plastic material" being a material sufficiently viscous to enable dispensation by severing, for example ice-cream, grease, margine or the like. The plastic material is extruded through an extruder opening having a flange therearound and the container is firstly raised to a position whereat the plastic material is downwardly extruded thereinto, whereafter the container and the extruder are relatively moved so that the container opening and peripheral edge thereof are moved across the extruder opening and flange, thereby severing the plastic material away from the extruder.
Claims17
A method for dispensing plastic material into a container through its top, said container having a peripheral top edge defining a container opening, said plastic material being expelled from an extruder having an extruder opening oriented downwardly and provided with a flange therearound, said method comprising:
- extruding plastic material from said extruder at a substantially uniform rate;
- raising said container from a position spaced below the extruder into a position in which at least a portion of the peripheral edge of the container is in abutment with the extruder flange;
- maintaining the peripheral edge in abutment with the extruder flange and maintaining the extruder opening in a fixed position so as to enable plastic material extruded through said extruder opening to pass into said container through said opening;
- and
- moving said container in a substantially horizontal direction at a spaced interval controlled by a timer to thereby sever plastic material extruded through said extruder opening away therefrom into said container, the spaced interval being a function of the rate of extrusion of the plastic material.
A dispensing apparatus for dispensing plastic material into a container having a peripheral top edge defining a container opening, said apparatus comprising:
- extruder means for extruding plastic material at a substantially uniform rate, said extruder means, during a dispensing operation, having a stationary downwardly open extruder opening surrounded by a stationary flange;
- first means for horizontally moving a container into a position wherein the container opening is aligned with and positioned below the extruder opening;
- means for vertically moving the container so that at least a portion of the peripheral edge thereof abuts the flange of the extruder means and for holding the peripheral edge in abutment with the flange during filling of the container so that material enters the container from the extruder opening, the extruder opening being positioned at a level higher than the container opening throughout the dispensing operation;
- second means for horizontally moving a container away from said extruder opening to thereby sever plastic material extruded through said extruder opening away from said extruder means;
- timing means for controlling said second means so that containers are moved away from said extruder means at spaced intervals determined by the rate of material extrusion;
- and
- a receiving station for receiving a container from said second means.
A dispensing apparatus for dispensing semisolid ice cream into a container having a peripheral edge defining a container opening, said apparatus comprising:
- extruder means for extruding semisolid ice cream at a substantially uniform rate, said extruder means, during a dispensing operation, having a stationary downwardly open extruder opening surrounded by a stationary flange;
- first means for horizontally moving a container into a position wherein the container opening is aligned with and positioned below the extruder opening;
- means for vertically moving the container so that at least a portion of the peripheral edge thereof abuts the flange of the extruder means and for holding the peripheral edge in abutment with the flange during filling of the container so that semisolid ice cream enters the container from the extruder opening, the extruder opening being positioned at a level above the container opening throughout the dispensing operation;
- second means for horizontally moving a container away from said extruder opening to thereby sever semisolid ice cream extruded through said extruder opening away from said extruder means;
- timing means for controlling said second means so that containers of semisolid ice cream are moved away from said extruder means at spaced intervals determined by the rate of extrusion;
- and
- a receiving station for receiving a container from said second means.
An apparatus for filling a container with ice cream comprising:
- a stationary ice cream extruder having a downwardly facing extruder opening and a peripheral flange coplanar with, encompassing and extending outwardly from the extruder opening;
- means for continuously expelling ice cream through said extruder opening at a constant rate;
- means for separating individual ice cream containers from a supply of containers and for positioning the separated containers vertically below said extruder opening, each of said containers having an upper peripheral edge defining a filling opening with a cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area of said extruder opening;
- means for vertically raising each of said separated containers so that the container peripheral edge abuts the extruder peripheral flange and for holding the container in contact with the flange, the peripheral flange limiting upward movement of the container;
- severing means for horizontally moving each of said raised containers so that the container upper edge slides across the extruder flange thereby severing ice cream in the container from ice cream being extruded;
- and
- timing means for actuating said severing means at constant time intervals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.