Apparatus for orienting cap assemblies
AssigneePMC Industries, Inc.
InventorKazmier Wysocki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus for orienting cap assemblies presented serially in a stream of random oriented cap assemblies, each cap assembly having a span between a leading edge and a trailing edge and an axis located intermediate the leading and trailing edges, the apparatus including a gate having opposite abutments spaced relative to the span and the axis of each cap assembly, and a rotor for advancing the cap assemblies through the gate such that a selected one of the leading edge and the trailing edge of each cap assembly will engage one of the opposite abutments as the cap assembly passes through the gate to turn the cap assembly into the desired orientation for delivery of a stream of uniformly oriented cap assemblies.
Claims10
Apparatus for orienting cap assemblies as the cap assemblies are advanced along a path of travel from an input toward an output for subsequent assembly with corresponding bottles in a selected orientation relative to the bottles, each cap assembly including a span between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and an axis transverse to the direction of advancement of the cap assemblies, the leading edge being spaced longitudinally a first distance from the axis and the trailing edge being spaced longitudinally a second distance from the axis, the second distance being greater than the first distance, the apparatus comprising:
- a gate including opposite abutments defining an opening;
- input means for bringing the cap assemblies serially to the gate with each cap assembly placed such that the span of the cap assembly at the gate extends across the opening of the gate, with the leading edge juxtaposed with one of the opposite abutments and the trailing edge juxtaposed with the other of the opposite abutments;
- advancement means for advancing each cap assembly through the gate, the advancement means including coupling means for coupling each cap assembly for movement transverse to the axis through the gate and for rotation about the axis as the cap assembly is advanced transverse to the axis through the gate, with the axis following a path spaced from each of the opposite abutments a distance greater than said first distance and less than said second distance so that as each cap assembly is advanced through the gate, the trailing edge of the cap assembly will engage one of the opposite abutments while the leading edge will clear the other of the opposite abutments and the cap assembly will turn about the axis to be oriented with the trailing edge located behind the leading edge as the cap assembly emerges from the gate;
- and
- output means for receiving the cap assemblies serially from the gate in a stream of cap assemblies oriented uniformly with the trailing edges located behind the leading edges for advancement to the bottles in the selected orientation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.