US 4,787,310 AGranted

Apparatus for decorating articles

AssigneeWerner Kammann Maschinenfabrik GmbH

InventorGerhard Tiemann

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Abstract

An apparatus for decorating articles such as bottles by means of labelling, printing thereon or the like includes a plurality of operating stations for performing various working operations on the articles as they are successively moved through the apparatus, transportation means for transporting the articles in a batch-wise manner from one operating station to the next and holding means for holding the articles in the stations between the transportation stepping movements. The transportation means comprises a main support member which is arranged to perform a reciprocating pivotal movement and on which holding elements such as grippers are pivotably carried. The pivotal movements of the main member and the holding elements take place in the same plane or in mutually parallel planes in such a way that the stroke movements of the main member and the holding elements are added together to make up the total length of movement to be covered by the articles in moving from one station to another.

Claims20

Dependent claims

Apparatus for decorating articles comprising at least one first station for an operation to be performed on respective articles passing through the apparatus, at least one second station disposed at a spacing from the first station in the direction of transportation of the articles through the apparatus, for carrying out a further operation on the articles, at least one said station being provided with at least one means for applying decoration to the articles, a holding arrangement for carrying the articles in the stations and comprising holding members co-operable in pairs to form at least two holding devices for holding the articles in the respective stations, the holding members being reciprocable parallel to the longitudinal axis of the articles for selectively engaging and releasing same, and a transportation means for transporting the articles stepwise from one said station to another and comprising:

at least one main support member, means mounting said main support member pivotably in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the articles carried by said holding members, at least one carrier means pivotably mounted on said main support member and projecting therefrom towards said holding arrangement and pivotable with the pivotal movement of the main support member and means for producing pivotal movement of said carrier means, whereby the stroke movement of the main support member in the said direction of transportation and the stroke movement of the carrier means in said direction of transportation supplement each other to make up a distance by which a said article is advanced from the first station in which it is carried by said holding members thereof to the second station in which it is carried by the further said holding members thereof.

Apparatus for decorating articles comprising:

at least first and second operating stations for performing working operations on respective articles passing through the apparatus, the first and second stations being disposed at a spacing from each other in the direction of transportation of the articles through the apparatus;
holding means at each of said stations for holding the respective articles in the stations while said working operations are carried out thereon, each said holding means comprising first and second holding members co-operable in pairs to hold a respective said article therebetween and means for displacing the holding members of each pair in a direction at least substantially perpendicular to said direction of transportation of the articles, for selectively holding and releasing said articles;
and transportation means for transporting the respective articles from one station to the next in said direction of transportaton of the articles and including at least one main support member, means mounting said main support member movably in a plane which is substantially in said direction of transportation of the articles, means for moving said main support member in said plane, carrier means pivotably mounted on said main support member and including a portion projecting from said main support member towards the respective said holding means and operable to engage a said article for transporting same with a step-wise movement from one said holding means to an adjacent said holding means, and control means for producing pivotal movement of said carrier means on said main support member in conjunction with said reciprocating movement of said main support member whereby the stroke movement of said carrier means in said direction of transportation and said movement of said main support member in said direction of transportation supplement each other to make up the distance by which a said article is advanced from the holding means in one said station to the holding means in another adjacent station.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.