US2937786A - Paper crinkle cup separating device - Google Patents

Description

May 24, 1960 H. w. MULLER 2,937,786

PAPER CRINKLE CUP SEPARTING DEVICE Filed May 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ui fyi? FIG.3.

INVENTOR. Henry W. Muller .AT TORNE Y May 24, 1960 E H. w. MULLER 2,937,736

' PAPER CRINKLE CUP SEPARATING DEVICE Filed May 16, 195'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Henry W. Muller IIIII W f im AIN FIG. 4.

fmII" ATTORNEY United States Patent F PAPER CRINKLE CUP SEPARATING DEVICE Filed May 16', 1957, Ser. No. 659,624

2 Claims. (Cl. 221211) This invention relates to a paper crinkle cup dropping machine and more particularly to the device for separating the individual crinkle cups from the vertical stack of nested inverted cups.

These paper crinkle cups are formed of thin parchment paper and are generally of frusto-conical shape and with the side wall thereof taper iluted throughout its full height. A vacuum head picker is ordinarily used in the cup dropping machine for picking the lowermost cup from the stack of inverted nested paper cups and turned when withdrawn from under the stack with the paper cup to invert the cup andl to drop it on a tray for baking molds lying on a slow moving conveyor and into which the cake or biscuit batter is poured by filling machines thereby making unnecessary the manual handling of these cups. With the picking heads used, heretofore, certain small number of the paper cups are not eiectively removed and they become jammed, distorted or torn and have to be removed from the stack or from the trays and replaced with a cup by hand. The flutes of the cup become bent or torn with the ordinary head when passing downwardly through the stack supporting ring.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a device for separating individual paper crinkle cups from a nested stack in' which the cups will be adequately drawn about the picking head by suction so that there are few, if any, of the cups that become jammed or torn when being removed from the stack and dropped upon the trays or into the baking mold tins.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a device for separating individual crinkle cups a stack supporting ring having a top face angled radially so that the edges of the cup will be more readily released from beneath the stack and be made more free for their engagement with the side of the picker head.

It is still another object ofthe invention to provide in a device for removing individual crinkle paper cups from a stack a picker head that conforms in exact shape throughout its periphery to the crinkled or fluted wall of the cup and has uted projections throughout its entire periphery.

It is a further object of the invention to provide in a device for separating uted paper cups from a vertical stack of nested cups, a picker head in which the suction air passages constitute an external annular groove at the mid-elevation point of the wall of the fluted cup to assume the major suction action and draw the wall of the cup equally therearound and wherein there are individual openings leading to the respective flute troughs of the head so that each iiute of the cup is drawn in addition and at a lower elevation in the large aring of the flutes whereby to insure the full withdrawal of the cup from the stack and the individual liutes of the cup or glove t engagement of the cup with the picker head whereby the cup may be removed from the stack without interference from the concentric stack supporting ring.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide 2,937,786 Patented `May 24,19'60 in a device for separating individual crinkle cups `from a stack of inverted nested cups in which the supporting stack ring has a plurality of inclined air holes entering the inclined top face of the supporting ring adjacent to the inner peripheral edge thereof and wherein these holes are of the same number as the number of ilutes on the cup whereby equal air pressure is individually directed against each of the utes of the cups to provide equal separating pressure ofthe air about the full periphery of the cup and equal lifting air pressure suppliedfto the remaining cup stack.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device for separating crinkle cups from the stackY of a cup dropping machine, having the above. objectsA in mind, which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, easy to assemble andr disassemble, free of wear, effective andeliicient in use. f

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical sectional view of one form of the device with the picker head positioned preparatory to its vertical movement into the bottom of the stack of cups to engage the lowermost cup,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view with the picker head extended into the stack and with the lowermost cup having been separated from the stack by air pressure from the supporting ring and the suction from the picker head,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View showing the lowermost cup retracted from the stack of cups and this stack of cups again seated on the stack supportingv `ring, with theV cup drawn tight upon the picker head,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the picker head inverted and in the process of dropping the cup into a baking mold tin,

Fig. Sis a transverse sectional view taken throughthe picker head on line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a top perspective view of the stack supporting ring, y

Fig. 7 is a top perspective view of the flutedpicker head and cup adhered thereto and broken away to show portions of the picker head top and side wall faces,

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modilied form of the invention in which a different type stack of supporting ring is used, the view being taken generally on line 8 8 of Fig. 9,

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view of the device as viewed on line 9-9 of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a top perspective view of a fragment ofthe stackY supporting and base ring assembly showing the centering projection for holding the stack of cups against rotationupon the stack supporting ring, and

Fig. l1 is a transverse sectional view similar to Fig. 5 of a picker head shaped to receive and retain a squareshaped crinkle cup having fluted corners.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 to '7, 1S represents a base ring upwardly from which verticalguide rods 16 extend. There are four of these rods angled ninety degrees apart about the base ring 15. Fitted` into the bottom of the base ring is a stack supporting ring 17 having an opening 18 through which a lowermost cup 19 may be Withdrawn from a vertical stack of such cups lying4 thereabove and normally supported on the stack supporting ring 17. This ring 17 tightly lits the 'inner periphery of the base ring 15 and has an annular groove 21 into which air is delivered under pressure by a nipple 22. The ring 17 has radially downwardly and outwardly inclined or conical top face 23. Extending from the groove to the inner'periphery edge of the top face Z3 area plurality of inwardly and upwardly inclined air holes 24 corresponding in number to the number of flutes of the paper crinkle cups 19 so that air may be directed into and along the respective flutes of the cup. This air pressure is supplied at the time the lowermost cup is to be removed to cause the cup side wall to be fully deposited upon the side wall of the picker head 25 and to hold the stack of cups while the lowermost cup is removed. A

The picker head 25 conforms in shape identically to the cup and has a plurality of parallel utes 26 thereon corresponding in exact number to the number of utes of the crinkle cup 19. This picker head has a central chamber 27 and a hollow drop ejecting member 28 having a top head 29 adapted to enter a countersunk opening 30 in the top face of the head 25. A stop ange 31 limits the drop movement of the ejector 28 when the picker head is inverted to eject the cup 19 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The head 25 is threadedly connected to a hollow operating stem 32 carried on a hollow shaft 33 that works the head so that it is elevated into the stack, and then pivoted to the down position as shown in Fig. 4 to eject the paper cup. In a standard cup dropping machine there are a gang of these picker heads assembled upon the shaft 33 and worked together. The utes 26 are tapered throughout an extent equal to the length of the side wall of the cup but have a break therein at a location approximately one half their tapered extent provided by an annular external groove 34 cut through the flutes and into the body of the picker head and from which air is drawn through six radial passages 35 into the suction chamber 27. This draws the fluted side wall of the cup 19 into engagement with the iiuted side of the picker head 25. Simultaneously, the bottom of the cup is drawn against the top face of the picker head by air being drawn downwardly through passage 36 of ejector 28.

In order to insure that each of the ilutes of the cup are drawn smoothly against the flutes 26 of the picker head 25, a series of small holes 37 extend from between adjacent utes 26 of the head to the central suction chamber 27 and corresponding in exact number to the number of utes of the cup whereby each individual ute of the cup will be sucked against the side of the picker head and maintained in control so that the head with the cup thereon can be assured downward passage through the opening 1S without the cup engaging the stack retaining ring. rl`he location of the small holes 37 is below the holes 35 and about half way down on the tapered utes so that suction will be effected upon the individual utes of the paper cup adjacent to their largest flaring and above the edge of the cup but not too close thereto. In operation, the picker head 25 is moved upwardly through the opening 18 in the stack supporting ring 17 with the suction on to grasp the cup and simultaneuosly the air pressure is turned on within the ring to separate the side walls of the lowermost cup from the remainder of the stack and to hold the stack while the lowermost cup is withdrawn. Thereafter, the picker head with the cup is withdrawn in the manner as illustrated in Fig. 3 with the cup 19 and pivoted downwardly to a position shown in Fig. 4. The ejector 28 is lowered by gravity to drop the cup 19 from the picker head 25 and into a baking mold 38 and made ready to be filled with the baking contents. Thereafter the picker head 25 is pivoted to assume again the position shown in Fig. 1 in readiness to remove the next cup from the stack.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 8, 9 and l0, there is shown a similar paper cup separating device in which the same uted picker head 25 is used. This device is provided with a base ring 41 having upwardly extending guide rods 42 and to which there is internally connected a stack supporting ring 43 by means of radially-extending fastening screws 44. This ring 43 has a main supporting face 45 angled downwardly and inwardly and conforming to an angle of approximately twenty-eight degrees from the horizontal that is naturally formed by a stack of such paper cups at their lower edges. In order that this supporting face 45 may not have the full load of the stack of cups there is provided a more inclined inwardly and downwardly extending supporting face 46 thereabove which is angled approximately seventy degrees from the horizontal. A vertical cylindrical spacing wall 47 extends upwardly from the inner edge of the tapered surface 45 to space the inclined surface 46 from the surface 45. In order to keep the stack of cups against turning about their vertical axis within the device and to maintain their fiuted areas centered with the ilutes of the picker head 25, there is provided a tapered centering projection 49 secured to the inclined radially-extending supporting face 46 and extending upwardly against the inner wall of the base ring 41. This projection 49 thus keeps the several utes of the cups aligned with spaces between the utes 26 of the picker head 25.

The operation of this latter form of the invention is generally the same as the above described operation of the rst form of the invention except that the stack of cups are handled somewhat differently. As best seen in Fig. 8 the upper cups have their downward movement resisted along the more inclined face 46 so that only a limited number of the under cups are supported on the less inclined face 4S of the supporting ring 43 from which the lowermost cup 19 is taken. The angle of the face 45 is substantially the same as the natural angle of the mass of nested cups and preferably slightly less than this natural angle, the edge of the Wall of the cup being adjacent to the inner edge of the face 45 and substantially free thereof so as to be readily receptive to the suction action of the pickel head. This is particularly so, as the stack might be slightly lifted by the picker head when taking the lowermost cup. The bulk of the stack will be sustained against downward movement by the larger angled elevated supporting face 46.

In Fig. 11, there is shown a picker head 50 adapted for a square form cup 51. This picker cup is similarly provided with an annular groove 52 from which air is sucked through radially-extending passages 53 into suction chamber 54 having an ejector 55 therein. The cup 51 is uted only at the corners and for each of these corners, the picker head 50 is provided with flutes 56 corresponding in numbers to the number of flutes at the corners of the cup and below the groove 52 and communicating with the individual spaces betweenl the flutes 56 at each corner are small passages 57 to make sure that the flutes of the cup are retained by the pick up head. This pick up head is used in the same manner as above described.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided an efcient and effective separating device for use with cup dropping machines in which all portions of the wall surface of the cup are certain to be taken into tight suction and glove fit engagement with the Wall of the picker head and wherein the picker head has the utes corresponding to the same number of crinkles or utes of the cup and wherein there is little opportunity for the cup to have a loose portion that might be frayed, torn or that jamming of the device result.

While various changes maybe made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A paper crinkle cup separating device for cup dropping machines comprising a cup stack supporting ring, guide means for the stack connected thereto and lying thereabove, said stack supporting ring having a top supporting face and an opening through which a cup may pass when it has been removed from the sup- 'porting face, a picker head movable into and out of said opening in the stack supporting ring, said picker head having a central suction chamber and a plurality of uted portions corresponding in number to the utes of the cup and suction openings extending between the suction chamber and the utes of the picker head whereby the full area of the cup wall is supported over the picker head and the cup Vwithdrawn through the opening of the supporting ring without interference therefrom, a movable ejector for the cups operable in the suction chamber and providing air communication with the suction chamber with the top of the picker head to suck the bottom of the cup, said supporting face of the stack supporting ring being inclined downwardly and outwardly from the peripheral edge of the ring opening, and an annular air pressure groove within the ring and a plurality of small holes extending from the groove upwardly and inwardly and penetrating the peripheral edge of the ring supporting face and through which air under under pressure is forced to separate the lowermost cup from the stack of cups, said holes corresponding in number to the number of flutes of the individual cup whereby an equalized pressure is extended upon the wall of the cup to eiect the engagement of the cup with the head and tend to hold the remaining cups in the stack in suspension thereabove and separated from the lowermost cup.

2. A paper crinkle cup separating device for cup dropping machines comprising a cup stack supporting ring, guide means for the stack connected thereto and lying thereabove, said stack supporting ring having a top supporting face and an opening through which a cup may pass when it has been removed from the supporting face, a picker head movable into and out of said opening in the stack supporting ring, said picker head having a central suction chamber and a plurality of uted portions corresponding in number to the utes of the cup and suction openings extending between the suction chamber and the flutes of the picker head whereby the full area of thecup wall is supported over the picker Amovable ejector for the cups operable in the suction chamber and providing air communication with the suction chamber with the top of the picker head to suck the bottom of the cup, said supporting face for the stack of cups being inclined outwardly and upwardly from the edge of the opening within the ring at an angle substantially the angle generally formed by the edges of the stack of inverted nested cups, and said stack supporting ring has a second outwardly-extending cup sup-V porting face lying on the ring outwardly of the lower face and elevated therefrom by a vertical cylindrical face whereby the lowermost:- cups of the stack may be separated from the bulk of the stack and supported on the lower face while the bulk of the stack may be supported on the upper face.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,163,572 Taylor Dec. 7, 1915 1,477,501 Kennan Dec. 11, 1923 1,532,153 Palmer Apr. 7, 1925 2,002,213 Adams May 21, 1935 2,411,082 Conti Nov. 12, 1946 2,445,713 Glassner July 20, 1948 2,640,606 Cox June 2, 1953 2,738,899 Hansen et al Mar. 20, 1956 2,741,958 Bridge Apr. 17, 1956 2,777,602 Genich Jan. 15, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 712,337 Great Britain July 2l, 1954 716,791 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1954

Images