Capping chuck assembly

A capping chuck assembly, comprising:

• a central guide disc, including a guide disc base and a guide disc cover secured to said guide disc base;
• a plurality of circumferentially spaced gripper segments mounted on said central guide disc between said guide disc cover and said guide disc base for rotation with said guide disc, said gripper segments being individually movable generally radially of said central guide disc, and each having an inner jaw portion for engagement with an associated closure, and an outer cam surface;
• a ring-shaped biasing element extending circumferentially about said gripper segments for urging said gripper segments inwardly of said central guide disc;
• and
• an outer chuck housing within which said central guide disc and said plurality of gripper segments are positioned, said chuck housing having an inwardly facing surface defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced cam drive surfaces positioned for respective engagement with the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments, so that attendant to engagement with the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments, so that attendant to rotational drive of said outer chuck housing, said cam drive surfaces collectively drive the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments to drive said central guide disc and said gripper segments together with said outer chuck housing, and to urge said segments into engagement with the associated closure.

A capping chuck assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable gripper segments, each said gripper segment having an inner jaw portion for engagement with an associated closure, and an outer cam surface;
• and
• an outer chuck housing within which said plurality of gripper segments are positioned, said chuck housing having an inwardly facing surface defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced cam drive surfaces positioned for respective engagement with the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments, so that attendant to rotational drive of said outer chuck housing, said cam drive surfaces collectively drive the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments to drive said gripper segments together with said outer chuck housing, and to radially drive said segments into engagement with the associated closure,
• including a biasing element which extends circumferentially about said gripper segments for urging said gripper segments inwardly.

A capping chuck assembly, comprising:

• a central guide disc;
• a plurality of circumferentially spaced gripper segments mounted on said central guide disc for rotation therewith, said gripper segments being individually movable generally radially of said central guide disc, and each having an inner jaw portion for engagement with an associated closure, and an outer cam surface;
• and
• an outer chuck housing within which said central guide disc and said plurality of gripper segments are positioned, said chuck housing having an inwardly facing surface defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced cam drive surfaces positioned for respective engagement with the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments, so that attendant to rotational drive of said outer chuck housing, said cam drive surfaces collectively drive the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments to drive said central guide disc and said gripper segments together with said outer chuck housing and to urge said segments into engagement with the associated closure,
• wherein said central guide disc comprises a guide disc base defining a plurality of guide channels within which said plurality of gripper segments are respectively positioned for movement radially of said central guide disc, and guide disc cover secured to said guide disc base so that said gripper segments are held between said guide disc cover and said guide disc base.

A capping chuck assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radially movable gripper segments, each said gripper segment having an inner jaw portion for engagement with an associated closure, and an outer cam surface;
• and
• an outer chuck housing within which said plurality of gripper segments are positioned, said chuck housing having an inwardly facing surface defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced cam drive surfaces positioned for respective engagement with the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments, so that attendant to rotational drive of said outer chuck housing, said cam drive surfaces collectively drive the outer cam surfaces of said gripper segments to drive said gripper segments together with said outer chuck housing, and to radially drive said segments into engagement with the associated closure,
• wherein said jaw portion of each said gripper segment has one or more gripping teeth, the jaw portion of each gripper segment having one or more regions which are devoid of gripping teeth, said gripping teeth of each one of said gripper segments being generally aligned with a force vector that is created through that one of the gripper segments by the respective one of the cam drive surfaces of said chuck housing acting against the cam surface of that one of the gripper segments.