Package making – Methods – Closing package or filled receptacle
Utility Patent
1998-10-19
2001-01-02
Coan, James F. (Department: 3727)
Package making
Methods
Closing package or filled receptacle
C053S281000, C053S321000, C053S330000, C053S488000, C413S002000, C413S026000
Utility Patent
active
06167682
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to deformable non-threaded closures for containers, such as drums, casks, barrels, and the like, provided with bungs or orifices that have generally cylindrical walls with interior and exterior edges that can be sealed-against. More particularly, the invention relates to tamper-proof closures capable of plugging and sealing orifices with or without internal threads in the orifice walls. The present invention also relates to an additional orifice at the center axis of the vessel, which greatly enhances and facilitates automated filling and capping.
2. Related Art
At present oil drums are filled through threaded orifices that are sealed with screw-type closures that are then crimped with a second piece to make them tamper-proof. Such closures require human intervention and attendant labor cost for their installation, because automation of this process has proven difficult. A need therefore exists for a one-piece closure that can be inserted and sealed quickly and easily without having to engage threads in the vessel head. Cross threads would become a thing of the past.
Many prior art bunghole closures require an added interior drumhead flange, or other interior drumhead support to be able to receive and sealingly hold the closure. The millions of metal drums now in circulation would have to be replaced or unheaded for retrofitting of the interior drumhead support if additional orifices were adopted. There is thus a need for a way to adapt existing containers for use of a deformable non-threaded closure without unheading them.
The traditional side-opening (opening on the lid near the side edge of the lid) on oil drums makes it easier to pour the contents by tipping the drum, but it complicates automatic filling. Despite extensive efforts over many years, packing machinery technicians have been unable to find a convenient and reliable way of finding and aligning the side opening automatically. Spinning the drums about their axes has proven problematic in use because once in service drums often lack a perfectly even side wall surface for engaging drive wheels. Small imperfections, such as dents, rust, grease, loose paint, and the like, in the side walls of the drums disrupt their spinning by the drive wheels. For this reason, some automated fillers will only fill new drums. Lots of these new drums are one way, single trip, not recycled, and not reconditioned. They end up as lidless trash cans, burning barrels, or are simply dumped. The steel drum has taken on a bad image, even often being pictured as a symbol of hazardous waste with a derisive skeleton and crossbones or with the derogatory “XXXX” label on a side. Traction by drive wheels is rendered more unreliable by the spills that commonly occur in a filling operation, particularly if the liquid being filled is a lubricant. In addition, the infrared sensors used to detect the openings need frequent sensitivity adjustments to work properly. The resulting failure to correctly find the side openings consistently causes misalignment of the filling lance with the side opening, and this can require time wasting physical relocations and/or respinnings. Thus edge-filling necessitates extensive operator intervention to operate properly, with attendant labor costs. Furthermore, successful automation of other aspects of oil refinement and packaging make the failure to reliably automate drum filling stand out sharply.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a non-threaded deformable bunghole closure for use on drums, casks, barrels, and other vessels.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bunghole closure that can be quickly installed in an automated process.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a bunghole closure that can be removed quickly and easily, preferably with substantially the same equipment as used to install the bunghole closure.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a tool for the rapid installation and removal of the bunghole closure.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a way of adapting a drum for either a threaded or non-threaded deformable bunghole closure without unheading the drum.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a way of retrofitting drums presently in service to provide a center orifice to allow center-filling and rapid installation of a tamper-proof bunghole closure.
It is yet another object of this invention to promote three “R's” that help the environment, namely: “Recycle-Reuse-Recondition.” This invention should be excellent for the environment by helping to promote reconditioning of drums and keeping them from becoming derelict.
In keeping with the above objects, the present invention provides a non-threaded deformable bunghole closure for an orifice having a generally cylindrical wall with generally flat interior and exterior edges. The closure includes a cylindrical sleeve portion that is capable of entering into and extending substantially between the interior and exterior edges of the orifice wall. An outwardly extending closure lip portion is located near the exterior edge of the sleeve and arranged to extend beyond and be capable of sealing against the exterior edge of the orifice wall. A closure internal portion that is generally shaped as a truncated cone is connected to the interior edge of the closure sleeve by an annular expandable hinge sealed between that edge and the outer rim of the conical internal portion. In an initial conical configuration, the conical internal portion, together with the surrounding sleeve, is capable of entering into the orifice but is arranged so that, when force is applied to substantially flatten the cone, portions of the surrounding sleeve and/or hinge expand outward to extend beyond and exert an upward force against the bottom edge of the orifice wall to hold down the closure. Application of further force, which would generally occur at a separate later time, drives the truncated cone through the flattened position and into the interior of the vessel, thereby inverting the cone so that it points into the drum rather than outward and collapsing the expandable hinge radially inward far enough to allow the unit to be removed from the orifice.
The present invention further meets the above objects by providing a closure installation tool comprising a plurality of gripping segments that, under the action of an expander, move radially outward to grip the interior of the bunghole closure. The tool also has a cylinder or ramrod with a flat end plug that under the action of an impelling force moves forcefully downward to force the apex of the corrugated cone into a substantially horizontal position, thereby sealing the closure in the bunghole.
The present invention also meets the above objects by providing a closure removal tool that also has gripping segments and a cylinder or ramrod, but further includes a hemispherical end cap on the cylinder to yield a ramrod of greater total length than the cylinder with a flat end plug. This tool can be the installation tool with a rounded long rod tip substituted for a short flat rod tip. Under the action of an impelling force the cylinder with hemispherical end cap forces the apex of the crenellated cone below the sealing position into an inverted cone, thereby inverting the corrugated cone, pulling the hinges back radially inward and thus releasing the seal and allowing the inverted closure to be pulled back out of the bunghole.
The invention also provides a method of adapting drumheads to the non-threaded deformable bunghole closure without having to unhead them. A downwardly gradually tapered frustuconical plunger is forced into a hole made in the drumhead to form a well in the interior of the drum. For plunger removal, a collar having radially projecting arms carrying a first set of exterior perimeter rollers is then fastened to the plunger and rotated while being forced downward against the d
Coan James F.
Haverstock, Garrett and Roberts LLP
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