Cup bottom finishing station for a cup making machine

A paperboard cup bottom finishing station of the type for use with a cup making machine having a rotating turret with a plurality of mandrels, each mandrel being configured to move into a position adjacent the bottom finishing station and being configured to receive a bottom blank having an outer lip and a sidewall blank including a flap that is folded over the outer lip to form a recessed bottom in the cup, the flap being sealed to the lip, the bottom finishing station comprising:

• a carriage assembly configured to move into and out of cooperation with the bottom blank and sidewall blank on the adjacent mandrel;
• and
• a bottom finisher assembly including a finisher wheel having a knurled surface and configured for insertion into the recessed bottom of the cup;
• means for rotating the bottom finisher assembly;
• and
• means for moving the finisher wheel radially into engagement with the cup, the moving means including a first and a second rotatable housing, the first rotatable housing being disposed at least partially within the second rotatable housing.

A paperboard cup bottom finishing station of the type for use with a cup making machine having a rotating turret with a plurality of mandrels, each mandrel being configured to move into a position adjacent the bottom finishing station and being configured to receive a bottom blank having an outer lip and a sidewall blank includinq a flap that is folded over the outer lip to form a recessed bottom in the cup, flap being sealed to the lip, the bottom finishing station comprising:

• a carriage assemby configured to move into and out of cooperation with the bottom blank and sidewall blank on the adjacent mandrel;
• and
• a bottom finisher assembly including a finisher wheel configured for insertion into the recessed bottom of the cup;
• means for rotating the bottom finisher assembly;
• and
• means for moving the finisher wheel radially into engagement with the cup,
• wherein the rotating means includes an actuator shaft connected to the bottom finisher assembly;
• wherein the bottom finisher assembly includes an outer housing rotatably mounted within the carriage and an inner housing rotatably mounted within the outer housing at a position offset from the axial centerline of the outer housing, the finisher wheel being rotatably mounted to the inner housing at a position radially offset from the axial centerline of the inner housing, the moving means being configured to rotate the inner housing with respect to the outer housing.

A bottom finishing workstation for a cup making machine having a rotating turret and a plurality of mandrels arranged to interact with a plurality of workstations, each mandrel being configured to receive a sidewall blank and a bottom blank that are combined at the plurality of workstations to form a cup, the sidewall blank being folded over a portion of the bottom blank and squeezed together, the bottom finishing workstation comprising:

• a framework;
• an input shaft rotatably mounted in the framework;
• a carriage slidably mounted on the framework, the carriage having a first slidable mechanism and a second slidable mechanism;
• a cam assembly connected to the input shaft and having at least two cam surfaces cooperating with a first cam follower and a second cam follower, respectively, the first cam follower being connected to the first slidable mechanism and the second cam follower being connected to the second slidable mechanism;
• and
• a bottom finisher assembly having a transverse eccentric drive rotatably mounted within the first slidable mechanism and the second slidable mechanism.

A method for radially transferring a cup bottom finisher wheel towards an adjacent abutment wall to squeeze a bottom blank of a cup against a sidewall blank of a cup for sealing it thereto, comprising the steps of:

• mounting a cup bottom finisher wheel to a rotatable inner component at a position radially offset from the axial centerline of.the inner component;
• rotatably mounting the rotatable inner component to a rotatable outer component at a position radially offset from the axial centerline of the outer component;
• and
• rotating the inner component with respect to the outer component to move the cup bottom finisher wheel radially outward.