Method and apparatus for trimming and inspecting plastic containers
AssigneeOwens-Illinois Plastic Products Inc.
InventorsRonald S. Kaminski, Noel B. Eggert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for trimming and inspecting hollow plastic containers having a neck which has an opening that forms an angle with the vertical axis of the hollow container wherein as the hollow container is moved by a conveyor intermittently past a succession of stations of a trimming and inspection apparatus, the neck of the container is clamped and oriented so that the axis of the opening is vertical and the trimming or inspecting tooling is moved downwardly to engage and perform the trimming or inspecting. In one form two containers are simultaneously clamped and oriented.
Claims11
A method for orienting hollow plastic containers wherein each container has a longitudinal axis and a neck and finish which has an opening which has an axis that forms an angle with the longitudinal axis of the hollow plastic container for performing trimming functions and inspecting functions on the hollow plastic containers, said method comprising
- depositing each container on a horizontal conveyor such that the longitudinal axis of the container is vertical with respect to the conveyor, and
- moving each container intermittently past a succession of stations of a trimming and inspection apparatus by moving said conveyor,
- providing tooling at at least one station,
- at at least one of said stations, clamping solely the neck of each container,
- thereafter rotating each clamped container about a horizontal axis such that each container is moved out of engagement with the conveyor to a position such that the axis of the opening in the finish is vertical,
- thereafter performing a function on each container by moving the tooling downwardly into engagement with the finish to perform the function while maintaining the neck of each container clamped in the aforesaid position,
- thereafter rotating each clamped container to its original position, and
- releasing each container onto the conveyor.
An apparatus for orienting hollow plastic containers wherein each container has a neck which has an opening that has an axis that forms an angle with the longitudinal axis of the hollow plastic container for performing trimming functions and inspecting functions wherein the apparatus includes a succession of stations, each station including tooling that is movable for performing a function, said apparatus comprising
- a horizontal vacuum conveyor for supporting and moving hollow plastic containers in upright position with the longitudinal axis vertical,
- means for intermittently moving the conveyor to move a container past said succession of stations of the apparatus,
- clamping and orienting means at at least one of said stations for clamping solely the neck of each container at each station and thereafter rotating each container while clamped about a horizontal axis such that the axis of the opening is vertical with respect to the conveyor and said tooling can be moved downwardly to engage and perform a function on the container at said station,
- said means for clamping and rotating each container being operable to return and release each container onto said conveyor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.