Device for opening plastic bottles by cutting the dome
AssigneeTetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
InventorManfred Waldstädt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for opening blown plastic bottles that are hermetically closed by a dome and mounted in a duct by cutting the dome using a cutting knife mounted in a cutting head that can move relative to the dome along the periphery thereof. The opening device includes holding members having at least two centering fingers, which can move radially relative to the dome to engage with the part of the dome that is to be cut off.
Claims16
A device for opening blown plastic bottles which have been air-tightly closed by a dome which is fused shut, and which are provided with a closure screwthread and which are disposed in holding means of the device, by cutting off the dome with a cutting blade which is mounted in a cutting head of the device and which is movable relative to the dome, wherein the holding means engages with the portion of the dome, which is to be cut off, and includes at least two centering fingers which are movable radially relative to the dome and which are arranged closer to the bottle end of the cutting head than the cutting blade;
- the cutting head includes a passage through which cut-off domes are transported;
- and
- the holding means is adapted to be brought into and out of engagement with only the dome, the holding means includes:
- means adapted to (i) hold the dome when the dome is cut off and (ii) release the dome so that the dome can be pushed into the passage by a lower next dome that has not been cut off of a lower next bottle;
- and
- at least one arresting pin arranged in the region of the centering fingers, the at least one arresting pin is adapted to allow the dome to be pushed upwardly into the passage in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the passage such that the at least one arresting pin engages a holding groove of the dome and prevents the dome from being pulled downwardly.
A device for opening a blown plastic bottle which has been air-tightly closed by a dome which is fused shut, and which includes a closure screwthread and a holding groove, the device comprising:
- a cutting blade mounted in a cutting head and adapted to cut off a dome of a bottle, the cutting head includes a passage through which the cut-off dome of the bottle is transported;
- at least two centering fingers arranged vertically axially above the cutting blade when the passage is arranged vertically, the centering fingers are (i) pivotable inwardly relative to the dome such that the centering fingers engage with the holding groove of the dome when the dome is being cut off and (ii) pivotable outwardly relative to the dome such that the centering fingers move out of the holding groove and release the dome to allow the dome to be pushed into the passage by a dome of a next bottle that has not been cut off of the next bottle;
- and
- at least two spring-loaded arresting pins arranged between the centering fingers, the arresting pins are adapted to allow the dome to be pushed upwardly into the passage in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the passage such that the arresting pins (i) resiliently engage the holding groove of the dome and prevent the dome from being pulled downwardly and (ii) hold the dome that has been cut off the bottle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.