Base cup applicator

Apparatus for applying base cups to the bottoms of rounded bottom containers comprising:

• (1) upper and lower circular driven support plates,
• (2) U-shaped bottle holders mounted below said upper support plate,
• (3) a plurality of internal gripper assemblies including an upwardly biased internal gripper mounted on said upper support plate,
• (4) vertical support means extending between said support plates,
• (5) a first cam surrounding said lower support plate,
• (6) vertically movable shoes mounted on said support means adapted to be driven vertically by said cam,
• (7) bottle supply means adapted to supply bottles to said machine at a first position,
• (8) a second cam mounted above said upper circular support plate at a location downstream of said first position adapted to depress an internal gripper into the neck of a container,
• (9) a first portion of said first cam aligned with said second cam adapted to raise a shoe thereby pushing a container upwardly onto a depressed internal gripper at a second location,
• (10) a second portion of said first cam being adapted to permit movement of said shoes to a lowermost position,
• (11) means to supply base cups to said shoes in said lowermost position,
• (12) means to apply an adhesive to the bottoms of said containers at a third position,
• (13) a third portion of said first cam downstream of said third position adapted to raise said shoes to a position where a base cup is pressed onto the bottom of a container in a fourth position,
• (14) a third cam mounted above said upper transport member adapted to release a bottle from an internal gripper at a fifth position, and
• (15) bottle removal means at a sixth position.