US 4,523,377 AGranted

Baby bottle cap assembler

AssigneeGerber Products Company

InventorsBarry Spletzer, George J. Swiatlowski, Maurice W. Brandt

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Abstract

A baby bottle top assembler automatically assembles nipple, collar and hood cap components into a unitary structure. Nipple, collar and hood feeders serially supply the cap components to pickup points. The feeders each include a hopper for holding the cap components, a conveyor for removing the cap components from the hopper and a magazine assembly for serially feeding the cap components to the pickup points adjacent the assembly wheel. Pickup pins pass the pickup points and first engage a nipple, then a collar and finally a hood. The components are snapped together into a unitary structure by a pinch roller. The unitary nipple/collar/hood assembly is removed from the pickup pin by an assembly stripper having fingers which engage under the nipple/collar/hood assembly forcing it off the pickup pin.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A baby bottle cap component assembler for use in assembling a baby bottle cap of the type including a nipple, a collar sized to fit over the nipple, and a hood mounted to the collar and adapted to fit over an end of the nipple extending through the collar, the assembler comprising:

a plurality of pickup pins sized for insertion into the hollow interior of the nipples;
a pickup pin carrier for movement of said pick-up pins along a pickup pin path;
means for driving said pickup pin carrier;
feed means for serially supplying nipples, collars and hoods to respective nipple, collar and hood pickup points near said pickup pin path, said collar pickup point being downstream of said nipple pickup point and said hood pickup point being downstream of said collar pickup point;
said nipple, collar and hood pickup points positioned and said feed means arranged and adapted so as said pickup pin carrier is driven by said driving means, one said pickup pin engages the interior of a nipple at said nipple pickup point and strips the nipple from said nipple feed means, the nipple carried by said pickup pin engages the interior of a collar at said collar pickup point and strips the collar from said collar feed means, and the nipple carried by said pickup pin engages the interior of a hood at said hood pickup point and strips the hood from said hood feed means so a nipple/collar/hood combination is carried by the pickup pin;
and
means, located downstream from said hood pickup point, for locking said nipple/collar/hood combination together.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.