Adjustable curling screw mechanism for a lip rolling machine
AssigneeBrown Machine, LLC.
InventorWayne W. Lamson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A curling screw adjustment mechanism for changing the radial spacing of the curling screws of a lip curling machine forming a lip on a thermoformed plastic container such as a cup, in which the curling screws are each mounted on separate interlinked pivoted mounting plates which are moved in unison by adjustments of a threaded rod. The curling screws are also cooled by indirect contact with a cooling liquid circulated through separate aluminum arbors on which the stainless steel curling screws are mounted to allow changing the curling screws without spillage of coolant.
Claims12
An adjustable curling screw mechanism for a lip rolling machine adapted to form a rolled lip on the rim of a container by means of said curling screw mechanism, said curling screw mechanism comprising:
- a plurality of curling screws arranged about a circular space about a center axis, each curling screw rotated to carry out said forming, each curling screw formed with a helical groove engaging said container rim and progressively forming a lip as said container is axially advanced between said curling screws by rotation thereof;
- a mounting for each curling screw for enabling selective adjusting movement causing a selective increase or decrease of the radius of said spacing circle to enable adaptation to different sized containers;
- said mounting including means for constraining simultaneous radial adjusting movement of said curling screws together while maintaining the location of said center axis of said spacing circle;
- and
- a selectively operable adjuster acting on all of said curling screws simultaneously to cause said simultaneous movement.
A method of adjusting the spacing of a plurality of curling screws in a lip rolling machine, comprising the steps of:
- mounting each curling screw on a series of separate pivoted mounting plates arranged about a spacing center axis, with the pivots located to carry said curling screws radially in or out;
- linking each pivoted mounting plate to other adjacent mounting plates so that all pivot in unison;
- adjusting the pivotal position of one of said mounting plates so that all of said curling screws are moved radially to a desired spacing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.