US2888127A - Bottle supporting cradle - Google Patents

Description

May 26, 1959 AEF UHLIG 2,888,127

I BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLE Filed Sept. 30, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QT@ Ki;

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y 1959 A. F. UHLIG BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLE 2v Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 30, 1957 A TTOR United States Patent BOTTLE SUPPORTING CRADLE Albert F. Uhlig, Oakland, Calif., assignor to Owens- Illinois Glass Company, a corporation of Ohio Application September 30, 1957, Serial No. 687,055

Claims. (Cl. 198.-33)

The present invention relates to bottle supporting cradles and more particularly is a cradle designed to rotatably carry bottles or similar cylindrical articles in recumbent positions to and away from an inspecting station where the article is rotated about its axis while being inspected for readily identifiable defects. At such station the bottle or other cylindrical article while still supported in its cradle is engaged at its ends by a chuck which is positively driven to effect rotation of the bottle while an electronic inspecting device scans a selected rotating surface for and detects certain kinds of imperfections if such be present.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a cradle which is capable of easy adjustment to accommodate glass containers of different specific kinds and dimensions. Thus the cradle can rotatably support either narrow-neck bottles or wide-mouth jars irrespective of their height.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a cradle of the above character incorporating simple, novel means for accommodating it to bottles or jars of different height.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of an article handling apparatus incorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view schematically showing my cradle supporting bottles at two inspecting stations.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the cradle with a bottle occupying a recumbent position therein.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the cradle.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the cradle.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the pivoted roll carrying fingers.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the second finger which as shown in Fig. 5 is closely associated with the finger of Fig. 6.

In connection with the manufacture of glass containers, such as bottles and jars, it has become necessary to inspect them carefully for imperfections prior to their being shipped to the packer customers.

These imperfections vary in character and some appear in and about the bottoms and are such as to require recumbent positioning and rotation of the containers about their axes to thereby present the desired surfaces to scanning by an electronic device which, if it detects a flaw of a given type, actuates means for removing the imperfect article at a given station.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have schematically illustrated apparatus of the above nature. An endless carrier 10 supporting a plurality of bottle or jar carrying cradles 11 conveys bottles 12 in succession and in step-by-step fashion to several inspecting stations 13 at one of which is an electronic device 14 in the presence of which the bottle or jar is to be rotated for the purpose of bringing the heel and bottom portions into the field being scanned by said device. Following such inspection, the bottles or jars are transferred to a conveyor 15 which. carries them to other stations (not shown) for packing; in cartons or if defective, to a cullet bin. The cradles 11 are intended to support the bottles or jars in recumbent positions and in such manner that they may be rotated about their longitudinal axes quite easily by means (not shown) yet effectively held against undesired bodily displacement laterally.

Each cradle, as illustrated, comprises a base member 16 which is an elongated bar having opposed beveled side margins 17' and at one end a cam roll carrying arm 18 designed for cooperation with cam means (not shown) in controlling the operating positions of the cradle. Spring fingers 19 at the other end of the bar provide for ready separable attachment of the cradle to abracket 20 on the endless carrier 10.

Two generally U-shaped carriers 21 are mounted upon the base member 16, each carrier comprising a body 22 formed with a dove-tail channel 23 in its lower surface .to accommodate the beveled base 16 and provide for sliding of said carrier lengthwise of the latter to. any desired position. Anupstanding curved arm 24 is provided at each end of the body 22 thereby completingthe U-shaped carrier. The twocarriers are disposed-in longitudinal alignment and each carries one set of bottle or jar supporting fingers, the latter arranged in pairs with :one pair mounted upon each of the carrier arms 24. 7

By reference to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, it will be observed that each pair of fingers comprises an upper finger 25 of generally triangular form and pivoted near one end of its base line 26 by means of a horizontal hinge pin 27 to the upper end of the corresponding carrier arm 24. The apex end 28 of the finger carries an anti-friction roll 29 designed for supporting rolling contact with the lower surface of a container or similar article having a cylinderlike surface in this area of contact. An arcuate slot 30 having its center coaxial with the hinge pin 27 and accommodating a lock bolt 31 provides means for releasably holding the finger in any of several possible adjusted positions as may be dictated by the diameter or specific position of the surface to be contacted. A spring device which normally yieldingly urges the finger 25 to its lowermost or zero position and consists of a spring wire loop 32 having one arm 33 anchored to a stationary boss 34 at the pivot point and a second arm 35 which is secured to the finger proper near the arcuate slot 30. This spring, upon loosening the lock bolt, urges the finger about its pivot in a counter-clockwise direction.

A second finger 36 which structurally is a duplicate of the so-called upper finger 25 is pivoted to a hinge pin 37 at a point spaced below the other hinge pin 27 and has an arcuate slot 38 receiving the same lock bolt 31 as the slot 30 of the upper finger. An anti-friction roll 39 is carried by this second finger for rolling engagement with opposed side surfaces of a bottle body or neck. A spring device, comprising a wire loop 40 and arms 41 and 42, functions to move the finger about its pivot in a counter-clockwise direction when the lock bolt 31 has been loosened.

By reference to Figs. 4 and 5, it'will be observed that the so-called upper roll carrying fingers 25 form a bottom support for bottles or jars and are adjusted as required articles of dilferent diameter and varying contour and furthermore is adaptable to articles of different length. To this end, the U-shaped carriers 11 can be adjusted independently lengthwise of the base member 16 and locked in any desired position by means of a lock screw 22 as shown in Fig. 5.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A cradle for supporting an elongated cylindrical article for rotation about its axis and in a recumbent position while moving to and from each of a series of inspecting stations, said cradle comprising a base memher, a pair of aligned U-shaped carriers mounted in spaced-apart relationship upon said base member, a finger pivoted to the upper end of each of the arms of said carriers for vertical swinging movement, an anti-friction roll at the free end of each finger for rolling supporting contact with a lower surface of a recumbent article, a second finger pivoted to each of the arms of said carriers at a point below the first named fingers for vertical swinging movement, an anti-friction roll at the free end of each of the second fingers for rolling holding contact with substantially horizontally spaced surfaces of the article, spring means yieldingly urging the roll carrying free ends of the fingers about the pivots of the latter in a direction away from a normal article supporting position and releasable holding means for securing the fingers in any of a number of article supporting positions as determined by the diameter of the article.

2. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the U-shaped carriers being mounted for independent sliding movement toward and away from each other on the base member to thereby adjust their spaced relationship as required by articles of different length and means for securing the carriers in any adjusted position.

3. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the releasable holding means comprising alocking bolt carried by each of the arms of the U-shaped carriers at a point between the pivots of the fingers and an arcuate slot formed in each of the fingers about its pivot, the arcuate slots of the two fingers on each carrier arm intersecting each other and accommodating a single locking bolt.

4. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the spring means comprising a coil spring individual to each finger having one arm connected to the finger at a point spaced from its pivot and a second arm anchored at the finger pivot.

5. A cradle as defined in claim 1, the base member being an elongated relatively narrow bar and each carrier having a portion slidingly straddling said bar and thereby providing for relative longitudinal movement of the carriers on the base member and means for releasably locking the carriers in any relative adjusted position on said base member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,354,628 Whitesell July 25, 1944

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