Container uprighting device

Details Container uprighting device Container uprighting device

1999-10-21

2001-08-28

Noland, Kenneth W. (Department: 3651)

Conveyors: power-driven

Conveyor for changing attitude of item relative to conveyed...

For changing both the elevation and the posture of...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06279723

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to container processing machines and more specifically to a device to upright containers from a horizontal position to a vertical position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the processing of containers, for example food containers, such containers are typically transported between various processing machines by conveyors. Different processing machines may require the containers to be at a different orientation, i.e. horizontal or vertical, to be processed. A device for turning a container from horizontal to vertical is called an uprighting device.
One form of uprighting device comprises a feeding device on a lower level, a rotating drum adjacent to the feeding device with its axis on or about the same plane as the feeding device, and a take-away device located at the top of the drum. Horizontal containers in the lower feeding device are fed intermittently, bottom side first, to a position adjacent to the drum. The rotating drum has a plurality of fingers which will pick up the containers from below and lift the containers as the drum rotates. When the containers reach the top of the drum, they will be vertical and transferred onto the take-away device.
Feeding devices may consist of conveyor belts formed of long concave trays, or carrier trays. A plurality of containers lay horizontally within each carrier tray. The conveyor belt moves intermittently in a direction parallel to the surface of the uprighting device drum. Each carrier tray has a slider device that can be moved from one end of the carrier tray to the other and which has an extension protruding above the top of the carrier tray. A horizontal bar is positioned at an angle across the conveyor belt. The bar is angled toward the drum so that as the horizontal bar contacts the extension located on the sliders, the sliders, and therefore any containers in the carrier tray, are forced toward the drum as the carrier trays advance. Additionally, the conveyor speed and the angle of the bar are coordinated so that for each advance of the conveyor, the slider is advanced one container length toward the drum. In operation, the sliders are positioned at the back end of the carrier trays, i.e. the end furthest from the uprighting drum. Each tray is filed with horizontal containers located between the slider and the drum. For each intermittent advance of the conveyor, one container is forced off the front end of each carrier tray. Therefore, when the carrier trays form a conveyor with each tray filled with a plurality of containers, for each intermittent movement of the conveyor, each carrier tray urges one container toward the edge adjacent to the drum, and a batch of horizontal containers is delivered intermittently to a position adjacent to the drum.
The end of each carrier tray, adjacent to the uprighting device drum, has a slot therein which allows a finger of the uprighting drum device to pass through the carrier tray. The intermittent movement of the conveyor and the rotation of the drum is timed so that while the conveyor is being advanced the drum fingers are not within the plane of the carrier trays. When the conveyor stops, a container is positioned at the front end of the carrier tray, adjacent to the drum. At this point, a finger on the drum passes through the carrier tray slot from below, lifting the container as the drum rotates. When the container is at the top of the drum, it is vertical, and delivered to the take-away device. As such, timing of the advancement of the conveyor belt with the rotation of the drum is critical as the finger must pass through the slot while the conveyor belt is paused. If the belt is not positioned to allow a finger to pass through the slot, the finger will collide with the carrier tray damaging the finger. Alternately, if the finger is within the slot as the belt advances, the belt will contact the finger which also may result in damage.
In addition to the possibility of damage to the carrier tray and/or drum fingers, the prior art uprighting device has the disadvantage of containing multiple gears, motors and various moving parts, to drive and time the rotation of the drum. These parts are expensive and subject to mechanical failure.
Therefore, there is a need for an uprighting device that is not subject to damage from a feeder device.
There is also a need for an uprighting device that will not damage a feeder device.
There is also a need for an uprighting device which eliminates unnecessary mechanical parts which are subject to failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above described needs have been met by the present invention. The present invention provides for an uprighting device having transfer member with a convex arcuate surface located adjacent to, or slightly below, a first transport means which delivers horizontal containers to the uprighting device. The transfer member's convex surface curves down to a second transport means which carries away the vertical containers. In operation, the first transport means operates intermittently, feeding one or more containers onto the transfer member where gravity pulls the container downwards while the convex arcuate surface causes the orientation of the container to change from horizontal to vertical. A second transport means, such as a conveyor belt, is located at the bottom of the transfer member. Because no parts of the transfer member that interact with the first transport means, the transfer member and the transport means cannot damage each other. Additionally, because the transfer members are stationary, there is no need for complex operating machinery that may be subject to failure.
Some containers may have a high center of gravity and may be subject to tipping when reoriented from the horizontal to the vertical by the transfer member. Tipping may be controlled by a stabilizing device located adjacent to the bottom of the convex arcuate surface. One form of a stabilizing device consists of a plate mounted on a rotating shaft. As the container falls over the convex arcuate surface, the plate is in the vertical position where, should the container start to tip, the container will contact the plate preventing the container from tipping. The vertical plate may then be rotated on the shaft to a horizontal position, thus allowing the vertical containers to be transported underneath the stabilizing device and away from the uprighting device. Because the first transport means works intermittently, the stabilizing device can also be timed to work intermittently so that once a container has been stabilized, it will be released prior to the arrival of the next container.
It is an object of this invention to provide an uprighting device which is not subject to damage from a feeder device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an uprighting device with few, or no, mechanical parts subject to failure.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an uprighting device which has a stabilizing means.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an uprighting device which is compatible with existing feeder devices.
These and other objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the invention in reference to the illustrations appended hereto.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4915237 (1990-04-01), Chang et al.
patent: 6032784 (2000-03-01), Bellanca
patent: 0066419 (1980-05-01), None

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