Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Endless conveyor
Patent
1997-06-20
1999-01-12
Bidwell, James R.
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Endless conveyor
19886709, 19880312, B65G 1706
Patent
active
058575626
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to improvements made to the preform support devices designed to be combined with a multiplicity of similar devices articulately coupled together one after another into an endless chain for transferring preforms with simultaneous rotation of the latter on themselves, this device including: adjacent mounting plates lying respectively to the front and to the rear (in the direction of movement of the chain); axial movement, said rod having a gripping end shaped in order to be removably fastened to the open end of a preform; spherical-cap-shaped coupling head intended to bear on the adjacent mounting plate lying on this first end side, and complementary to the abovementioned cap and provided with a central axial opening for the linking stem of the adjacent mounting plate, lying on this second end side, to pass through freely.
A preform transfer chain consisting of such devices is found especially in plants for manufacturing containers, such as bottles, flasks or the like, made of a plastic, especially a thermoplastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). More particularly, a transfer chain formed in this way is used to move the preforms from a charging station up to and through a heating oven (tunnel oven) in which the material of which the preforms is made is heated in order subsequently to be molded, by a blow molding or stretch-blow molding process, into a large container (either the final container or an intermediate container). The transfer chain is furthermore designed so that the linear movement of the preforms is accompanied by a rotation of the preforms about themselves so that the material is heated uniformly all around the perimeter of the preforms, the heating means being arranged on one side in the oven.
FIG. 1 of the appended drawings represents, in diametral section, in a relatively detailed manner, a preform support device designed according to the usual technique, while FIG. 2 shows, from above, in a simplified form, the coupling parts (fraction of the transfer chain) of a group of three devices according to FIG. 1.
The preform support device, designated in its entirety by the reference 1, includes: two other adjacent mounting plates lying respectively to the front and to the rear (in the direction (arrow 3) of movement of the transfer chain); two parts, respectively an upper and a lower part, which are fixed in the mounting plate 2, for example, by screwing from above and from below the mounting plate, respectively; (shown, but not referenced) inside the body 4 guide the rod; furthermore, the rod is capable of being moved axially, with return by means of a spring 6.
At its free end (at the bottom in FIG. 1), the rod 5 is provided with a gripping head 7 designed to be removably or releasably fastened to the open end of a preform 8 (in the drawing, the gripping head 7 is frictionally pressed into the opening in the preform 8).
At its opposite end (at the top in FIG. 1), the rod 5 is fastened to a toothed wheel 9 capable of meshing with a link chain (of the sprocket chain type) which extends fixedly along the path followed by the transfer chain, by virtue of which the rod 5, and therefore the preform 8 which it supports, is rotated about itself when the transfer chain moves in the direction of the arrow 3.
The axial movement of the rod 5 is obtained by means of a cam (not shown) brought under the toothed wheel 9.
The multiplicity of preform support devices coupled together one after another forms an endless transfer chain 10 (a fragment of which is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2) which has to have an ability to articulate, especially, but not exclusively, in a horizontal plane (as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1). However, in addition, suitable execution of the process for manufacturing the containers requires that the preforms be positioned in different attitudes at various points in the transfer: in particular, they are loaded opening up onto the support devices 1 but must be heated opening down in the oven and then must be broug
REFERENCES:
patent: 2646160 (1953-07-01), Michna
Bidwell James R.
Sidel
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