GB2115796A - Apparatus for removing crown corks - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved bottle opening machine for smoothly removing crown caps from bottles contained in a bottle case in which the cap removing operation is carried out by way of the steps of engaging cap removing parts 28 on a rotary member 26 with the crown caps on the bottles in an area where the circular track of the cap removing parts tangentially coincides with the linear track of the bottles, removing the crown caps from the bottles under the influence of a moment when the former is parted away from the latter and releasing the removed caps from the cap removing parts with the aid of cap releasing mechanisms (64, Fig. 7). The number of rotary members 26 on which the cap removing parts are mounted corresponds to the number of lines of bottles in the bottle case, each of the lines including several bottles. To ensure synchronous engagement of the cap removing parts with the bottle heads, there are provided synchronizing discs 30 having recesses 31 to engage the leading and trailing ends of bottle cases 20. The rotary member may be mounted on a pair of swing arms (121, 136, Fig. 15) so as to prevent the cap removing parts from being damaged by foreign materials placed on the head portions of the bottles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bottle opening machine Background of the invention The present invention relates to a bottle opening machine for removing crown caps from the head parts of bottles contained in a bottle case and more particularly to an improved bottle opening machine in which the crown caps are continuously and automatically removed from the opening rims of the bottles in the bottle case as it is conveyed on a conveyance system.

As is well known, beer, refreshing drink or the like filled in bottles are delivered from a bottling factory to a consumer market and after the consumers enjoy them the empty bottle are recovered for bottling beer, refreshing drink or the like again. It is often found that among the recovered empty bottles (as contained in the bottle case) some ones are manually capped with crown caps. This causes necessity for removing these caps from the bottles in a preliminary process before they are transferred to a bottling line in the bottling factory.

A hitherto known bottling machine is generally constructed such that cap removing operation is practiced by way of the steps of lowering a pair of pawl means to the position corresponding to the lip portion of the crown cap to be removed, allowing the pair of pawl means to be actuated until they are engaged to the lip portion and then forcibly raising up the crown cap while they hold the latter therebetween.

On the other hand, a bottle opening machine of the type including cap removing parts adapted to carry out a circular movement is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 17,983/77 (corresponding to Japanese Patent Application No. 93529/55). Specifically, the conventional bottle opening machine is constructed such that each cap removing part turns its circular movement to a linear movement at the cap removing area. That is, its cap removing operation is practiced by the steps of lowering a pair of pawl means displaceably held on the cap removing part until they are engaged to the lip portion of the crown cap, and forcibly raising up the crown cap while they hold the cap therebetween with the opening rim of the bottle depressed so as to prevent the latter from being lifted above the bottle case.

However, it is pointed out as a drawback with respect to the above-described conventional bottle opening machine that the cap removing operation requires a large amount of power consumption due to the arrangement that the pair of pawl means are raised up while the bottle neck is depressed by means of a retainer and there is a fear of causing damage or chipping on the bottle neck while the crown cap is raised up together with the pair of pawl means engaged thereto.

Another drawback inherent to the conventional bottle opening machine is that due to the upward and downward movements of the pawl means, the pawl means stop at both the upper and lower dead points, accordingly, the cap removing operation is intermittently practiced. That causes a low efficiency for removing the crown caps. Still another drawback is that to prevent the bottle from being lifted above the bottle case while cap removing is effected by means of the pair of pawls in the cap removing part, there is a necessity for a bottle neck retainer and thereby the bottle opening machine becomes incomplicated, resulting in an increased manufacturing cost.

Summary of the invention It is an object of this invention is to provide an improvded bottle opening machine in which cap removing is effected by utilizing a moment which is generated as a circular movement track of a pawl means in the cap removing part is increasingly parted away from a linear movement track of the bottle head whereby crown caps are continuously removed from the opening rims of the bottles contained in the bottle case at a high efficiency by means of simple cap removing parts without any fear of causing damage or chipping on the bottle opening rims during the cap removing operation.

According to this invention, there is provded a bottle opening machine of the type in which cap removing is carried out by engaging each of cap removing parts to an opening rim of one of bottles contained in bottle cases which are transferred in an end-to-end relation by means of a conveyance system, characterized in that the cap removing parts are distributed in an equally spaced relation along the periphery of a rotary member rotatably supported on a frame structure so that each of the cap removing parts is brought into engagement with the opening rim of the bottle in the bottle cases which are fed on the conveyance system as the rotary member is rotated, wherein each of the cap removing parts includes a pawl means adapted to be operatively engaged to a crown cap fitted on the bottle opening rim and said crown cap is removed therefrom by way of the steps of engaging said pawl means to the crown cap in an area where the linear movement track of the opening rims of the bottles contained in the bottle case and the circular movement track of the pawl means are united with one another in a tangential relation and then removing it from the cap removing portion under the influence of a moment which is generated due to the gradually increased distance by which the circular movement track is parted away from the linear movement past the aforesaid area.

The nature, utility and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description with respect to preferred embodiments of the invention when it is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings briefly described below.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side view of the whole bottle opening machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the bottle opening machine as seen from the left side in Fig. 1 without a raising and lowering mechanism, a cap receiving basin, and a synchronizing mechanism for the purpose of simplifying illustration; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 1 without cap removing parts and arms; Fig. 4 is a side view of a synchronizing disc to be fixedly mounted on cylindrical rotary drum pf the bottle opening machine in Fig. 1, shown in an enlarged scale; Fig. 5 is a side view of a synchronizing plate for the synchronizing mechanism on the bottle opening machine in Fig. 1, shown in an enlarged scale;; Fig. 6 is a partially sectioned front view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 1, illustrating in an enlarged scale how arms and cap removing parts are fitted onto the cylindrical rotary drum; Fig. 7 is a partially sectioned side view of the cylindrical rotary drum with the arms and the cap removing parts arranged thereon in Fig. 6, shown in a scale larger than in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a partial side view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 1, illustrating how cap removing operation is carried out as a bottle case is conveyed in the direction indicated by an arrow mark; Figs. 9(A), (B) and (C) are partially sectioned side views respectively, illustrating in an enlarged scale how the cap removing part is brought into engagement with the opening rim of the bottle with a crown cap capped thereon and then disengaged therefrom with the crown cap removed;; Fig. 10 is a partially sectioned side view of the cap removing portion, illustrating that it is brought into improper engagement with the bottle opening rim; Fig. 11 is a side view of a bottle opening machine in accordance with the first modified embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 12 is a plan view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 11 without the arms and the cap removing parts; Fig. 1 3 is a partial side view of a bottle opening machine in accordance with the second modified embodiment of the present invention, illustrating an essential part of the machine; Fig. 14 is a front view of the bottle opening machine as seen from the right side in Fig. 13; Fig. 1 5 is a side view of a bottle opening machine in accordance with the third modified embodiment of the present invention;; Fig. 16 is a plan view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 15; Fig. 1 7 is a front view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 15; Fig. 18 is a side view of a rotary disc and a synchronizing disc mounted on the drum on the bottle opening machine in Fig. 15, wherein they are illustrated in a superimposed state; Fig. 1 9 is a side view of the cap removing part of the rotary disc in Fig. 18, shown in an enlarged scale; Fig. 20 is a view of the cap removing part seen in the direction indicated by an arrow mark in Fig.

19; Fig. 21 is a sectional view of the cap removing part, taken along the line VIl-VIl in Fig. 19; Figs. 22(a), (b) and (c) are partial side views of the bottle opening machine in accordance with the third modified embodiment, illustrating in an enlarged scale how the cap removing part is brought into engagement with the opening rim of the bottle and then disengaged therefrom with the crown cap removed; Fig. 23 is a side view of the cap removing part of the third modified embodiment, illustrating in an enlarged scale how the removed crown cap is released therefrom by means of a cap releasing mechanism; Fig. 24 is a side view of the synchronizing disc rotatably mounted on a swing arm in accordance with the third modified embodiment, illustrating in an enlarged scale how the arm is raised up when a foreign material is placed on the opening rim of the bottle;; Fig. 25 is a side view of the whole bottle opening machine in accordance with the fourth modified embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 26 is a plan view of the bottle opening machine in Fig. 25; and Fig. 27 is a schematic side view of a synchronizing mechanism constructed in accordance with the fourth modified embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention Referring first to Figs. 1 to 3, reference numeral 10 generally designates a bottle opening machine in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As will be apparent from the drawings, the bottle opening machine 10 has a movable frame 12 constituting a substantial part of a framework 11 designed in a frame structure. The movable frame 12 is vertically displaceable relative to a stationary frame 14 with the aid of a conventional raising and lowering mechanism 13 such as hydraulic jack for a motorcar or the like so that the height of a rotary drum 26 is adjusted by means of said raising and lowering mechanism 13.

On the other hand, between both the sides of the framework 11 are horizontally arranged a pair of support frames 16 adapted to rotatably support a number of rollers 1 7 therebetween. A conveyor 1 8 is formed by the rollers 1 7 disposed in an equally spaced relation in the longitudinal direction. Each of the rollers 1 7 comes into frictional contact wiht an endless belt 19 so that they are rotated by operating it by means of a driving power source which is not shown in the drawings. A container case 20 is placed on the series of rollers 1 7 whereby it is moved on the roller conveyor 18 as they are rotated.It should be noted that pressure rollers 21 one of which is illustrated in the drawings are arranged beneath the endless belt 19 so as to urge the latter against the rollers 1 7 and thereby generate sufficiently high frictional contact force to be exerted on them.

Bottles 23 recovered from consumers are contained in the case 20 to be fed on the roller conveyor 1 8. The bottles 23 include a beer bottle, a refreshing drink bottle and others. Among the recovered bottles 23 there are found a lot of bottles fitted with a crown cap 24.

As is best seen from Fig. 2, the bottle opening machine 10 is supported by means of a support shaft 25 horizontally extending across the roller conveyor 1 8 at an elevated position relative to the latter. The support shaft 25 is fixedly mounted on the movable frames 12 and the cylindrical rotary drum 26 is rotatably fitted on the support shaft 25. A number of arms 27 arranged (sixteen arms in the illustrated embodiment) in the circumferential direction are fitted onto the drum 26 in the radial direction. Each of the arms 27 has a crown cap removing part 28 carried at their free end. The cap removing parts 28 are located in the circumferential direction so as to exactly correspond to the position of the bottle heads of the bottles 23 contained in the case 20.

Specifically, in the illustrated embodiment sixteen cap removing parts 28 are arranged in the circumferential direction to form a unit of the parts so that they are engaged to the crown caps 24 on the bottles 23 so as to remove the former from the latter.

Further, the cylindrical rotary drum 26 has a pair of synchronizing discs 30 fixedly mounted thereon. The synchronizing discs 30 are positioned between two adjacent units of cap removing parts 28. In the illustrated embodiment one of the synchronizing discs 30 is positioned between the first and second units as seen from the left side of the drum 26 in Fig. 2, whereas the other one is located between the first and second units as seen from the right side. As shown in Fig. 4, each of the synchronizing discs 30 has synchronizing recesses 31 formed in an equally spaced relation on the circumference of which circular pitch corresponds to the length of the bottle case 20.Each of the synchronizing recesses 31 is adapted to be engaged to the rear end of the preceding bottle case and the fore end of the following bottle case simultaneously whereby the respective cap removing portions 28 are correctly engaged to the head parts of the bottles 23 in the case 20. Owing to the engagement as described above the bottle opening machine 10 is subjected to line pressure transmitted from the roller conveyor 1 8 via the bottle cases 20 whereby each drum 26 is driven by the line pressure.

In view of the case where the recess 31 on the synchronizing disc 30 fails to be engaged to the upper end part of the bottle case 20 for a reason there is provided a synchronizing mechanism 33 by means of which the rotary drum 26 is rotationally driven under the line pressure exerted thereon. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the synchronizing mechanism 33 includes a rotary shaft 34 and a synchronizing plate 35 fixedly mounted on the rotary shaft 34. The synchronizing plate 35 has a substantially rectangular configuration as shown in Fig. 5 which is symmetrical as seen in the radial direction relative to the axis of the rotary shaft 34.

On both the shorter sides of the synchronizing plate 35 are formed synchronizing recesses 36 which are adapted to be engaged to the top of the bottle case 20. On the sides of the synchronizing recess 36, a leading guide edge 37 and a trailing guide edge 38 are formed. As the bottle case 20 is fed forward on the roller conveyor 18, it is first engaged to the leading guide edge 37 and then engaged to the synchronizing recess 36. Finally it is engaged to the trailing edge 38. During the engagement as described above the synchronizing plate 35 is subjected to line pressure which is transmitted from the roller conveyor 18 via the bottle case 20 whereby it is rotationally driven by the line pressure.

The rotary shaft 34 is operatively connected to the cylindrical rotary drum 26 by way of a power transmission mechanism comprising sprockets 39 and 40, an endless chain 41 and others so that both the synchronizing plate 35 and the drum 26 are synchronously rotated in such a manner that the former is rotated, for instance, through two revolutions while the latter is rotated through one revolution. Thus, the bottle opening machine 10 is operated by the combination of the synchronizing plate 35 and the drum 26 in that way.

On the other hand, the arms 27 radially mounted on the cylindrical rotary drum 26 are constructed in such a manner as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. Specifically, each of the arms 27 includes a holding sleeve 44 fixedly secured to the drum 26 and a guide tube 45 fitted into the holding sleeve 44. Further, a thrust rod 46 is slidably inserted through the guide tube 45.

As is apparent from the drawings, the cap removing parts 28 are firmly attached to the free ends of the guide tubes 45. Each of the cap removing parts 28 includes a cylindrical member 47 and a guide head 48 integrally fitted onto the cylindrical member 47. The guide head 48 has a bell-shaped guide surface 49 formed on the inner wall and includes a pawl 50 projecting inward therefrom. The pawl 51 is freely slidable through a fitting hole 51. The fitting hole 51 extends through the circumferential wall of the guide head 48 and a leaf spring 53 is fixedly secured to the outer surface of the guide head 48. The rear end of the pawl 50 touches the leaf spring 53. Thus, the pawl 50 is normally urged in the inward direction under the resilient force imparted by the leaf spring 53.

At the bottom of the bell-shaped guide surface 49 in the guide head 48 is fixedly disposed a resilient member 55 made of synthetic resin or the like material which is effective in absorbing a shock. A permanent magnet 56 is disposed at a position located opposite to the pawl 50 relative to the axis of the thrust rod 46 so as to act as a crown cap holding mechanism 58 which serves to hold a removed crown cap in cooperation with the pawl 50. Preferably, the permanent magnet 56 is a high power magnet containing cobalt or the like as an alloying component.

Between the cylindrical member 47 and the holding sleeve 44 is interposed a coil spring 59 which serves to absorb an impact force exerted on the guide head 48. Due to the arrangement of a coil spring 61 the thrust rod 46 is normally held so as to assume a retracted position so that a head 62 at the innermost end of the thrust rod 46 is brought in contact against a camshaft 63. The camshaft 63 is fixedly mounted on the stationary support shaft 25 to carry out cam operation in such a manner that when the thrust rod 46 is urged outward against the resilient force of the coil spring 61 due to the engagement of the head 62 and the camshaft 63, its outermost end part is projected beyond the resilient member 55 whereby the crown cap 24 held by the cap holding mechanism 58 is disengaged therefrom.

Thus, a crown cap disengaging mechanism 64 is constructed by a combination of the camshaft 63, the thrust rod 46 and the coil spring 61.

The crown cap 24 disengaged from the cap disengaging mechanism 64 is discharged and received in a crown cap receiving basin 65. As a result the crown caps 24 removed from the cap removing parts 28 are recovered into the cap holding basin 65 without any scattering around the drum.

Next, crown cap removing operations will be described below with reference to Figs. 1, 8 and 9.

A bottle case 20 with a lot of recovered bottle 23 contained therein is transferred on the roller conveyor 18 from the outside toward the bottle opening machine 10 and fed under the synchronizing plate 35 of the synchronizing mechanism 33. The bottle case 20 engages with the plate 35 before it is fed under the drum 26.

After moving past the synchronizing mechanism 33, the bottle case 20 is displaced to a bottle locating region A. At this time, the fore end of the following bottle case and the rear end of the preceding one are engaged together to any one of the synchronizing recesses 31 on the synchronizing disc 30 or the synchronizing recesses 36 on the synchronizing plate 35, accordingly, each cap removing part 28 can be correctly engaged with the had of each bottle 23 in a synchronous relation.

Fig. 9(A) illustrates how the cap removing part 28 is correctly allocated to the head of the bottle 23 in the bottle head locating region A. After moving past the region A, the bottle 23 is further fed toward the position as illustrated in Fig. 9(B) where it is completely engaged to the cap removing part 28 in such a manner that the pawl 50 engages with the lip on the crown cap 24.

Subsequently, the bottle 23 is transferred to the crown cap removing region B. As is readily apparent from the drawings, the region A indicated by Figs. 9(A) and (B) is an area where the linear movement track of the bottle head in the case is gradually united with the circular movement track of the pawl 50 in the cap removing part 28.

As the cap removing part 28 is displaced to the crown cap removing region B, the circular movement track of the cap removing part 28 is gradually parted away from the linear movement track of the head of the bottle 23 whereby a moment is generated about a fulcrum on the crown cap, resulting in smooth disengagement of the latter from the bottle 23. The aforesaid fulcrum is located at the position opposite to the pawl 50 where the crown cap 24 is brought in contact against the inner wall of the guide head 48.

After the crown cap 24 is removed from the bottle head in the cap removing region B, it is carried to the crown cap holding region C (Fig. 8) while it is held by means of the cap holding mechanism 58. When it reaches the rear end of the cap holding region C, the cap disengaging mechanism 64 is actuated so as to allow the crown cap 24 held by the cap holding mechanism 58 to be discharged into the cap receiving basin 65. After the cap receiving part 28 completes the intended operation of removing the crown cap 24, it is rotationally displaced further until it is ready for starting the next operation.

As described above, the bottle opening machine 10 in accordance with the present invention is constructed such that cap removal is carried out merely by way of the circular movement of the respective cap removing part 28. Therefore, there is no necessity for any complicated raising and lowering mechanisms constituting essential parts of the conventional bottle opening machines. Further, since cap removal is carried out as if the crown caps 24 are peeled off, utilizing the increasingly widened distance between the rotary movement track of the cap removing sections 28 and the linear movement track of the head portions of the bottles 23, the hitherto known principle of leverage for opening crown caps is applicable and thereby it is ensured that cap removal operation is carried out continuously and smoothly. As a result damage or chipping on the bottle head which tends to often take place during the cap removal is effectively prevented.

Cap removal is normally carried out by way of the steps as illustrated in Figs. 9(A), (B) and (C) and there is no necessity for retracting the pawl 50 against the resilient force of the leaf spring 53 during the cap removal. In case when incorrect engagement of the part 28 and the head of the bottle occurs for any reason, the pawl 50 is caused to move backward, for instance, by a distance d as illustrated in Fig. 10 whereby a certain extent of the incorrect engagement can be compensated by way of the backward displacement of the pawl 50.

It should be noted that the synchronizing mechanism 33 undertakes the function of the synchronizing discs 30 when the latter fail to be engaged to the upper end part of the bottle case 20 or they are disengaged therefrom for any reason. The synchronizing mechanism 33 may be not required in dependence on some factors such as the length of the bottle case 20, the diameter of the synchronizing disc 30 or the like. When the synchronizing recess 31 on the synchronizing disc 30 or the synchronizing recess 36 on the synchronizing mechanism 33 is engaged to the rear end of the preceding bottle case and the fore end of the following one simultaneously, the synchronizing disc 30 or the synchronizing mechanism 33 is subjected to line pressure which is transmitted from the roller conveyor via the bottle case.Accordingly, the cap removing parts are rotationally driven by the aforesaid line pressure.

Next, the bottle opening machine in accordance with the first modified embodiment of the invention will be described in a greater detail with reference to Figs. 11 and 12.

The bottle opening machine 1 OA as illustrated in the drawings is substantially same as that in the foregoing embodiment with the exception that the synchronizing plate in the foregoing embodiment is replaced with a synchronizing disc 71 on the synchronizing mechanism 70. Thus, the same or similar parts or components are indicated by the same reference numerals as those in the foregoing and therefore their repeated description will be not required.

Specifically, the synchronizing discs 71 on the synchronizing mechanism 70 are constructed in the same configuration and dimension as those of the synchronizing disc 30 fixedly mounted on the cylindrical rotary drum 26 and a rotary shaft 72 on which the synchronizing discs 71 are fixedly mounted is connected to the cylindrical drum 26 via a power transmission mechanism 73 comprising sprockets 74 and 75 and an endless chain 76 in the illustrated embodiment so that both the synchronizing disc 71 and the cylindrical drum 26 are rotated in a synchronous relation. It should be noted that in the illustrated embodiment the synchronizing discs 71 are rotated through one revolution while the cylindrical drum 26 is rotated through one revolution.

The cap removing parts 28 on the bottle opening machine 1 OA are adapted to be rotated by the line pressure in the same manner as in the foregoing embodiment, but as required, the bottle opening machine 1 OA may be operated by driving power transmitted from a driving mechanism 79 which is connected to the cylindrical drum 26 via another power transmission mechanism 78.

Next, Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate a bottle opening machine in accordance with the second modified embodiment of the invention.

The bottle opening machine 1 OB in accordance with the second modified embodiment is constructed such that four rotary discs 81 are fixedly mounted on a shaft 80 which is rotatably supported by means of bearings and a plurality of cap removing parts 82 are arranged in the circumferential direction around said rotary disc 81.

Each of the cap removing parts 82 comprises a finger block which includes a cap removing head 83 fixed to the rotary disc 81 and a guide head 84 jointed to the cap removing head 83, wherein a guide face 85 is formed between both the heads 83 and 84 in such a manner to extend divergently in the radial direction. On the inside wall of the cap removing head 83 is disposed a pawl 86 which projects toward the guide surface 85 therefrom. It should be noted that a suitable resilient means may be provided so as to allow the pawl 86 to be projected adjustably.

The guide head 84 is normally urged toward the cap removing head 83 by means of springs 87 disposed on the rear face thereof so that the crown cap 24 removed from the opening rim of the bottle is firmly held between the pawl 86 and the guide head 84 under the resilient force imparted by the springs 87. Thus, a crown cap holding mechanism 88 is constructed by a combination of the guide head 84, the pawl 86 and the springs 87 so as to ensure that the crown cap 24 is held after completion of removal.

On the bottom of the guide face 85 of the guide head 84 is formed a projection 89 which is adapted to be engaged to the top face of the crown cap 24 when the latter is removed from the bottle head by way of cooperation of the projection 89 with the pawl 86. Thus, cap removal is carried out in the substantially same manner as in the foregoing embodiment as illustrated particularly in Figs. 6 to 9 and therefore repeated description will be not required any longer.

After completion of removal from the bottle opening rim, the crown cap 24 is transferred while it is held by means of the cap holding mechanism 88, until a crown cap releasing mechanism 90 is actuated and thereby it is discharged from the cap holding mechanism 88 into a crown cap receiving basin 91.

The cap releasing mechanism 90 includes a releasing rod 93 held pivotally about a fulcrum by means of a coil spring 92 and an engagement roller 94 rotatably held on the free end of said releasing rod 93 which is adapted to engage with the guide head 84. As the rotary disc 81 is rotated and thereby the guide head 84 is brought in contact with the engagement roller 94, the guide head 84 is caused to turn in the counterclockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 13) against the resilient force of the springs 87 whereby the guide face 85 becomes opened more widely. At this moment the projection 89 on the bottom of the guide head 84 becomes effective to push the top face of the crown cap 24 in the outward direction and thereby the latter is readily released from the cap removing section 82.After the crown cap 24 is discharged into the cap receiving basin 91, the empty cap removing part 82 is rotated further until it is ready to start the next operation.

In predetermined positions in the circumferential direction of the disc 81 are formed synchronizing recesses 96 each of which is adapted to be engaged to the rear end of the preceding bottle case and the fore end of the following bottle case on the roller conveyor at the same time. Owing to the arrangement of the synchronizing recesses 96 it is ensured that each of the cap removing parts 82 (finger blocks) is correctly allocated to one of the bottle heads of the bottles 23.

Next, Figs. 1 5 to 24 illustrate a bottle opening machine in accordance with the third modified embodiment of the present invention. This modified embodiment is intended to provide a bottle opening machine which ensures continuous removing of caps from the bottle head, firm holding of the removed caps and reliable discharge of the latter without any damage or chipping on the conveyed bottles as well as the machine itself irrespective of employment of any particularly designed bottle case or existence of foreign material on the tops or the bottoms of the bottles.

Referring first to Figs. 1 5 to 17, the bottle opening machine 1 OC includes a framework 111.

Between the fore and rear sides of the framework 111 are horizontally extended support beams 113 along which a roller conveyor 18 is provided so as to convey bottle cases 20 one after another. In the illustrated embodiment bottles 23 contained in each of the bottle cases 20 are arranged in five lines each of which includes five bottles. It is assumed that some of the bottles 23 are capped with a crown cap 24.

The bottle opening machine I OC includes two drums 129 and 146 located at a certain distance in the longitudinal direction. On both the sides of the framework 111 are provided a pair of brackets 120 each of which includes a swing arm 121 in such a manner to swing about the bracket 120.

Between the foremost ends of the arms 121 is extended a shaft 122 which includes raising and lowering members 123 at its both ends for raising or lowering the rear drum 129. Each of the raising and lowering members 123 comprises a rotary member 124 and a lever 125, the rotary member 124 having a configuration in the form of an isosceles triangle as seen from the side, one of three apexes of the isosceles triangle being fixedly secured to the shaft 122 while other two apexes serving to carry rollers 1 26 respectively.

The raising and lowering members 123 can be manually actuated merely by means of a single lever 125 attached to one end of the shaft 122 as seen in Fig. 1 6 and there is no lever at the other end of the shaft 122. As the lever 125 is so actuated upward or downward that each rotary member 134 stands uplight and lies horizontally, the arms 121 are caused to swing upward or downward about a pivotal shaft located at the bracket 120 via the rotary members 124, as illustrated by two-dotted chain lines in Fig. 1 5.To facilitate the upward movement of the drum 129, a resilient device 127 (including a coil spring) is disposed between the middle part of the arm 121 and the stationary part of the framework 111, the upper end of the resilient device 127 being pivotally connected to the arm 121 while the lower end of the same is anchored at a bracket attached to the side wall of the framework 111 so as to allow it to be inclinable to a certain extent.

Between both the arms 121 is horizontally extended a shaft 128 on which the drum 129 is fixedly mounted. As is best seen from Fig.

16, the drum 129 has three rotary discs 131, 132 and 133 mounted thereon in an equally spaced relation and a plurality of cap removing parts 1 30 are formed on the outer surface of each of the rotary discs 131, 132 and 133. Further, synchronizing discs 134 and 135 are mounted adjacent to the rotary discs 131 and 133 on the drum 129. The rotary discs and the synchronizing discs are rotated in union together with the horizontally extending shaft 28.

To support the fore drum 146, a pair of swing arms 136 horizontally extend toward the sides of the rear drum 129 in parallel to each other, wherein the left end part of each swing arm 136 is pivotally engaged to the horizontal shaft 128 so as to allow it to swing upward and downward about the shaft 128 while the right end part of the same carrys a shaft 137 extending across both the swing arms 136. At one end of the shaft 137 as seen in Fig. 1 6 is provided a raising and lowering member 140 which comprises a rotary member 138 and a lever 139, whereas at the other end of the shaft 1 37 is provided another raising and lowering member 140 which comprises just a rotary member 138. Thus, by manually actuating the lever 139, the arms 136 are caused to swing upward or downward about the shaft 128 via the rotary members 140.

Further, to facilitate the upward movement of the drum 146 a resilient device (including a coil spring) is disposed between the middle part of the arm 136 and the bracket 120 on the framework 111 so as to urge the arm 136 upward.

Across both the arms 136 is extended a horizontal shaft 142 on which a pulley (or sprocket) 143 is fixedly mounted, whereas on the horizontal shaft 128 is fixedly mounted another pulley (or sprocket) 144. An endless belt (or chain) 145 is spanned between both the pulleys (or sprockets) 143 and 144 so that the horizontal shafts 128 and 142 are rotated in a synchronous relation. The fore drum 146 is fixedly mounted on the horizontal shaft 142 in the same manner as the rear drum 129 and rotary discs 147 and 148 and synchronizing discs 149 and 1 50 are in turn fixedly mounted on the fore drum 146. It should be noted that the rotary discs 131, 132, 133, 147 and 148 are located in correct alignment with the respective lines of bottles contained in the bottle case 20. Further, it should be noted that the rotary discs 147 and 148 on the fore drum 146 are located between the adjacent ones of the rotary discs 131, 132 and 133.

Between both the arms 121 is extended a support plate 1 51 corresponding to the rear drum 129, whereas between both the arms 136 is extended another support plate 1 52 corresponding the fore drum 146. Five crown cap releasing mechanisms 1 53 are fixedly secured to the support plates 1 51 and 1 52, each of them being located in a position corresponding to one of the rotary discs 131,132,133,147 and 148.

The cap releasing mechanism 1 53 includes a releasing rod 1 54 pivotally held about a fulcrum and an engagement roller 1 55 rotatably held at the free end of the releasing rod 1 54 (see Fig. 1 5).

As is best seen from Fig.18, the rotary disc is constructed by a plurality of sector-shaped segments 131 a, each of which includes the same number of cap removing parts 130 as the number of bottles arranged in each of the lines in the bottle case 20, the cap removing parts 130 being formed on the outer surface of the sector-shaped segment 131 a in an equally spaced relation. The distance between two adjoining segments is the same so that between two adjoining bottles in the direction of conveyance of the bottles 23.

The detailed structure of the cap removing parts 130 is as illustrated in Figs. 19 and 20. Fig.

20 is a view seen in the direction indicated by an arrow mark A and Fig. 21 is a sectional view taken along the line XXI-XXl in Fig. 19.

Specifically, a plurality of recesses 1 56 are formed inward of the outer surface 1 57 of each of the sector-shaped segments 131a and guide faces 158 and 159 extend between the respective recesses 1 56 and the outer surface 1 57 of the segment 131 a. As is best seen in Fig.

19, a pawl 1 60 is fitted into a cavity located adjacent to the recess 1 56 at the left side relative to the latter while a projection 1 60a constituting a part of said pawl 160 is projected rightward a short distance from the guide face 1 58. A permanent magnet 161 is embedded below the recess 156 into the body of the segment 131 a.

Further, a cap releasing member 1 62 is pivotally disposed on the segment 1 31 a as if it is bridged over the recess 1 56. The cap releasing member 1 62 is constructed by a combination of a bifurcated portion 1 62a bridged over the recess 156 and arms 1 62b formed integrally with bifurcated portion 1 62a and it is held pivotally about a pin 1 63 inserted through the segment 1 31 a at the boundary position located between the bifurcated portion 1 62a and the arm 162b.A set screw 1 64 is screwed into the segment 131 a as seen in Fig. 19 and a coil spring is expanded between the set screw 164 and the bifurcated portion 1 62a so that the cap releasing member 162 is normally urged in such a direction as to allow the bifurcated portion 1 62a to abut against the recess 156. The permanent magnet 161 is located at the position as illustrated in Fig.20 within a cutout 1 62c on the bifurcated portion 1 62a which is brought into contact with the recess 1 56.

As illustrated in Fig. 18, the synchronizing disc 1 34 is also constructed by a plurality of sectorshaped segments 1 34a which are in turn fixed to flange portions 167 on the drum 129 by means of bolts 1 66 in the same manner as the segments 131 a of the rotary disc 130. On the outer surface of each of the segments 1 34a are provided a pair of raised portions 1 68 between which a guide recess 1 69 is formed. As the drum 129 is rotated, the rear end of the preceding bottle case (rear lateral wall) and the fore end of the following bottle case (fore lateral wall) are brought into engagement to the guide recess 1 69 at the same time.Once the above engagement is established, the recesses 1 56 in the respective cap removing parts 130 are correctly located so as to correspond to the heads of the bottles 23 contained in the bottle case 20.

Next, operation of the bottle opening machine in accordance with the modified embodiment will be described below.

The levers 125 and 139 of the raising and lowering members 123 and 140 are normally lowered so that the arms 121 and 136 extend in the horizontal direction. The bottle cases 20 with a lot of bottles 23 contained therein are then placed on the roller conveyor 1 8. A first case 20 is placed on the conveyor 18 so that the fore lateral frame of the first case comes into engagement to one of the guide recesses 169 on the synchronizing discs 149 and 1 50 when it is fed under the front drum 129. If the next case 20 is placed on the conveyor 18 adjacent to the first case 20, the rear lateral frame of the first case and the fore lateral frame of the second case comes into engagement to one of the guide recesses 1 69. Thus, lateral frames of all cases 20 fed on the conveyor 1 8 are engaged with the corresponding recesses 169.As the two abutting lateral frames of the adjoining bottle cases 20 are engaged together to the guide recesses 1 69 on the synchronizing discs 149 and 150, the latter are caused to rotate as the bottle cases 20 are conveyed on the roller conveyor 18, whereby the fore drum 146 and the rotary discs 147 and 148 fixedly mounted thereon are rotated.Since an adjustment is made such that the cap removing parts 130 on the rotary discs 147 and 148 correctly receive the heads of the bottles 23 in the bottle case 20, the projected part 1 60a of the pawl 1 60 in each cap removing part 130 is brought into engagement to the lip 24a of the crown cap 24 capped on the opening rim of the bottle 23 in the fore end of an engagement region as illustrated in Fig. 22(a) where the linear movement track of the bottle heads of the bottles 23 and the circular movement track of the cap removing parts 130 are united with one another in the tangential relation. As the bottle 20 is conveyed further, the crown cap 24 is completely received in the recesses 1 56 of the cap removing parts 130, as illustrated in Fig. 22(b). As the bottle case 20 is conveyed still further and it moves toward the rear end part of the aforesaid engagement region as illustrated in Fig. 22(c), the circular movement track of the cap removing part 1 30 is parted away from the linear movement track of the head of the bottle 23 whereby the crown cap 24 is removed from the opening rim of the bottle 23 and the removed cap 24 is attracted toward the bottom face of the recess 56 by magnetic force of the permanent magnet 161. It is then transferred while it is held in the recess 156, as the drum 146 is rotated.

When the cap removing part 130 is rotated to the position as illustrated in Fig. 23 where the cap releasing mechanism 1 53 is operable, the engagement roller 1 55 at the free end of the cap releasing rod 1 54 is brought into abutment against the arms 1 62b of the cap releasing member 162 in the cap removing part 130.This causes the arms 1 62b to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction as seen in the drawing whereby the crown cap 24 held by the permanent magnet 1 61 is released from the interior of the recess 1 56 on the cap removing part 130 by means of the bifurcated portion 1 62a of the cap releasing member 1 62. The cap 24 is then discharged into a cap receiving basin (not shown) located beneath the cap releasing mechanism 153.

As is readily understood from the above description, the crown caps 24 capped on the bottle opening rims of the bottles 23 arranged in the second and fourth lines in the bottle case 20 are successively removed by means of the cap removing parts 130 on the rotary discs 147 and 148. Owing to the structure of the cap removing parts as described above, it is ensured that holding and releasing of the removed crown caps are carried out reliably and very few trouble takes place with the cap releasing mechanism because of its simple function.

As the bottle case 20 is conveyed further, the guide recesses 1 69 on the synchronizing discs 134 and 135 fixedly mounted on the rear drum 129 are brought into engagement with the rear lateral frame of the preceding bottle case and the fore lateral frame of the following bottle case at the same time both of which are joined to one another in an end-to-end relation whereby the crown caps 24 capped on the bottles 23 arranged in the first, third and fifth lines in the bottle case are removed from their respective bottle opening rims in the quitely same manner as in the foregoing.

As described above, all the crown caps 24 capped on the bottles 23 in the bottle case 20 are removed therefrom by operating the bottle opening machine. If any foreign material or obstacle 0 such as a stone or the like is placed on the head portion of the bottle 23 in the bottle case 20 for any reason as illustrated in Fig. 24, it abuts against the peripheral part of the rotary discs or the synchronizing discs as the bottle case is conveyed through the bottle opening machine.

This causes upward directed force to be exerted on the rotary discs or the synchronizing discs and the aforesaid force is transmitted to the arms 136 via the shaft 142. As a result the arms 136 swing upward about the shaft 128 of the rear drum 129 which serves as a fulcrum so that the whole fore drum 146 is raised up. Thus, the obstacle 0 is inhibited from entering the space between the rotary disc and the synchronizing disc or the guide recess on the synchronizing disc. Therefore, there is no danger of causing damage or chipping on them. Since the drum 146 is normally urged upward by means of the resilient devices 141, the upward swing movement of the drum 146 is assisted thereby so that it is effected for a very short period of time. The drum is restored to the original position immediately after the obstacle moves away therefrom.

If any obstacle is located or placed on the bottle 23 arranged in any one of the first, third and fifth lines in the bottle case 20, it abuts against any one of the rotary discs 131, 132 and 133 or the synchronizing discs 134 and 135 on the rear drum 129 and then the arms 121 are caused to swing upward about the pivotal shaft on the brackets 120 in cooperation with the resilient devices 141 in the same manner as in the foregoing. As described above, both the drums 129 and 146 are raised up independently in response to abutment of the rotary discs or the synchronizing discs against an obstacle on the bottle or a deformed lateral frame of the bottle case.

The bottle opening machine is usually installed on a bottle processing life and crown cap removing operation is not therefore required, for instance, when new bottles pass therethrough. In such a case both the drums are held at a raised position by actuating the handles 125 and 129 of the raising and lowering members 123 and 140 so that they assume a vertical position and thereby the new bottles move smoothly through the bottle opening machine without any hindrance imparted to the processing line.In this embodiment, as two drums are separately disposed at both the fore and rear parts of the bottle opening machine and rotary discs are mounted on them in such a manner as to alternately correspond to plural lines of bottles in a bottle case, the crown cap removing operation is carried out at a high efficiency, because only one of the drums which has rotary discs corresponding to an obstacle is required to be raised up when the obstacle abuts against one of the rotary discs and the other drum can continue the cap removing operation.

Since the drums 146 and 129 are operatively connected to each other by means of the endless belt or chain 145, the synchronizing discs are not necessarily required to be mounted on both of them and they may be mounted only on the fore drum 146. Alternatively, clearances or slots 1 70 between the oppositely located end parts of the adjacent sector-shaped segments constituting a rotary disc may be substituted for the function of the synchronizing disc (see Fig.18). In this case the slots 170 are located and dimensioned to be correctly engaged with lateral frames of two joined bottle cases so that they function as synchronizing means. Further, the drum raising and lowering mechanism of the type shown in the drawings is merely illustrative and the present invention should be limited only to the illustrated embodiment.Alternatively, the raising and lowering mechanism may be constructed such that the fore drum 146 has only synchronizing discs mounted thereon and the rear drum 129 has both rotary discs and synchronizing discs mounted thereon. Further, other type of synchronizing mechanism may be mounted on the fore drum.

Finally, Figs. 25 and 26 illustrate the fourth modified embodiment of the present invention which is intended to ensure reliable synchronization particularly when lower bottle cases are to be processed.

Referring to Figs. 25 and 26, the bottle opening machine 1 OD includes a stationary framework 210 which is constructed by a combination of four vertical frames 211 and a rectangular upper frame 212 fixedly mounted on the top ends of the vertical frames 211. Further, support frames 21 3 extend across the fore and rear vertical frames 211 in the longitudinal direction and a roller conveyor 1 8 is provided between the pair of support frames 213 extending in parallel to each other.The roller conveyor 18 serves to convey bottle cases 21 7 each having a reduced height in which a number of empty bottles 218 such as beer bottles refreshing drink bottles or the like are contained, each of said bottles having a height higherlhan that of the side walls (frames) of the recovered bottle case. In the illustrated embodiment, four lines of empty bottles each of which consist of six bottles are contained in each of the bottle cases 217. Among the empty bottles contained in the bottle case, some ones are capped with crown caps 21 9 respectively.

Further, a support plate 220 extend across the upper frames 212 on the stationary framework 210 and bearing means 221 are disposed at both the end parts of the support plate 220. Under the respective bearing means 221 and on the respective support plates 21 3 are respectively disposed two bearing means 222 so that shafts 223 are rotatably held by means of both the bearing means 221 and 222 while they extend vertically therethrough. On the lower end part of each vertical shaft 223 is fixedly mounted a star wheel 224 which has a plurality of semicircular recesses 224a formed along the periphery thereof, the recesses 224a being adapted to engage with the barrels of the respective bottles 218.An auxiliary synchronizing roller 261 is disposed in operative association with each star wheel 224 and it is rotatably held at the free end of an arm 260 adapted to swing horizontally about the shaft 223. Each roller 261 includes a sprocket 262 located above it, the sprocket 262 being operatively connected to a sprocket 264 on the shaft 223 via an endless chain 263. Further, each roller 261 is normally urged so that it contacts the side wall of the bottle case 21 7 under biasing force imparted by a coil spring 265.

When each star wheel 224 fails to be rotated due to absence of bottles in the bottle case 217, each roller 21 6 functions as an auxiliary synchronizing means which allows the shaft 223 to continue its rotation. It should be noted that each roller 261 is dimensioned so as to rotate through one revolution per each bottle case, while the star wheel 224 is dimensioned so as to rotate through one revolution per two bottle cases. A bevel gear 25 is fixedly mounted on each vertical shaft 223 at the top end part located above each bearing means 221.

At both the end parts of the support plate 220 are disposed brackets 226 through which a shaft 227 is horizontally extended so as to rotate freely.

On the shaft 227 are fixedly mounted bevel gears 228 and a sprocket 229. The bevel gears 228 are meshed with the bevel gears 225 on the vertical shaft 223.

On the other hand, on the rightside of each star wheel 224 (as viewed in Fig. 26) is disposed a bearing means 230 which is fixedly mounted on the upper frame 212 of the stationary framework 210. A shaft 231 is horizontally extended across both the bearing means 230 so as to carry sprockets 232 and 233 thereon. An endless chain 234 is spanned between both the sprockets 229 and 232.

A pair of arms 235 are pivotably fitted onto both the end parts of the shaft 231 at their pivotal ends so that they are caused to swing upward and downward. Further, a rotary shaft 236 extends across the pair of arms 235 at the two ends, whereas a rotary shaft 237 extends across them at the free end parts thereof. A raising and lowering member 238 for raising up or lowering the arms 235 is attached to the shaft 237 at both the end parts. The structure and function of said raising and lowering member 38 are same as those of the raising and lowering member 140 in the preceding embodiment and therefore their repeated description will not be required.

A sprocket 242 and a drum 243 are fixedly mounted on the shaft 236 so that an endless chain 244 is spanned between the sprocket 233 on the shaft 231 and the sprocket 242 on the shaft 236 and four rotary discs 245 are disposed on the outer surface of the drum 243. Further, a plurality of cap removing parts are formed along the periphery of each of the rotary discs 245 in an equally spaced relation as illustrated in Fig. 18.

Another support plate 251 is bridged between both the arms 235 at the position where no interference takes place with the rotary discs 245.

Four cap releasing mechanisms 252 constructed in the same manner as the cap releasing mechanisms 153 in the preceding embodiment are fixed to the support plate 251 so that the crown caps 219 held on the rotary discs 245 are released therefrom and then discharged into a cap receiving basin 255.

The number of teeth of the bevel gears 225 and 228 as well as the number of teeth of the sprockets 229 and 232 are determined so that the peripheral speed of each star wheel 224 is the same as that of the rotary discs 245.

Now operation of the bottle opening machine as illustrated in Figs. 25 and 26 will be described below.

As the bottle cases 217 are conveyed on the roller conveyor 1 8 in the direction indicated by an arrow mark on the drawings, the barrels of the bottles 21 8 arranged in the outermost lines in each bottle case 21 7 are engaged with the respective semicircular recesses 224a on the star wheels 224. The star wheels 224 are caused to rotate as the bottles 218 move further and their respective rotations are then transmitted to the shafts 236 via the transmission mechanisms comprising the shaft 223, the bevel gears 225 and 228, the sprockets 229, 232, 233 and 242 and others whereby the rotary discs 245 are rotated at the same peripheral speed as that of the star wheels 224.When there is an empty space in the bottle case 217 due to absence of a bottle, the auxiliary synchronizing rollers 261 function to rotate each shaft 223 because they usually contact the side walls of the bottle case 217 as the cases are conveyed.

The cap removing parts 246 are disposed along the periphery of the rotary discs 245 at the same distance as that between the adjacent bottles 218 contained in the bottle case 217 and the circular movement track of the cap removing parts 246 and the linear movement track of the bottle heads of the bottles 218 converge in the tangential relation relative to the rotary discs 245. Thus, cap removing is carried out by way of the steps as illustrated in Fig. 22. In this modified embodiment, synchronization between the conveyed bottle cases and the cap removing parts is assured by means of the synchronizing mechanisms adapted to come into contact with the barrels of the bottles or the side walls of the bottle cases. As a result reliable synchronization is achieved in spite of the fact that the bottles are contained in the lower bottle cases.

In case all the bottles 218 in the bottle cases 217 are not capped with the crown caps, any engagement of the bottle heads with the cap removing parts is not only required but sometimes it creates a hindrance to smooth conveyance of the bottle case 217. In such a case, therefore, the drum 243 is held at a raised position by operating the lever 240 of the raising and lowering member 238.

In case the drum 129 is heavy and the arms 135 and 136 cannot swing smoothly, the resilient devices 127 may be provided in order to make the arms 135 and 136 swing smoothly.

As a modification from the preceding embodiments an endless moving guide such as an endless chain 300 having guide vanes 301 secured to the joint portions thereof so as to allow each bottle 21 8 to be supported in the space defined between the adjacent vanes 301 as illustrated in Fig. 27 may be employed instead of the star wheels 224.

As described above, the bottle opening machine in accordance with the present invention is constructed such that cap removal is carried out by way of engagement of a crown cap with a cap removing part in an engagement region where the linear movement track of the bottle heads and the circular movement track of the cap removing parts are united with one another in the tangential relation and subsequent disengagement and crown cap from the cap removing part due to a moment exterted thereon, the moment gradually being increased as the circular movement track is parted away from the linear movement track. Thus, cap removing is achieved merely by the circular movement of the cap removing parts whereby cap removing operation is carried out smoothly and continuously at a high efficiency.

Since cap removing is effected merely by way of the circular movement of the cap removing parts, there is no necessity for a complicated mechanism including raising and lowering cap removers for removing the caps during cap removing operation and a bottle neck retainer for depressing a bottle neck during the same or the like each of which is essential for a conventional bottle opening machine whereby the bottle opening machine can be constructed in a simple structure. Further, since releasing of the removed cap is carried out when the circular movement track is parted away from the linear movement track, cap releasing is very smoothly carried out with no danger of a damage or chipping on the bottle head, and a reduced amount of power is consumed for cap removing and releasing operations.

Since the removed caps are held by means of the cap holding mechanisms and then discharged into a cap receiving basing by means of the cap releasing mechanism, there is no fear of scattering the removed caps around the bottle opening machine. Thus, removed crown caps are recovered at a high efficiency.

Further, since the respective cap removing parts are operated merely by way of their circular movement and they are caused to be rotatably driven under line pressure which is generated by engagement of the respective cap removing parts with the bottles contained in a bottle case, there is no necessity for any driving mechanism for forcibly driving the cap removing part. Another advantage of the present invention is that crown caps can be continuously removed from empty bottles contained in the bottle cases without any specific power consuming cap removing mechanism.

Claims (16)

Claims

1. A bottle opening machine in which cap removing is carried out by engaging each of cap removing parts to the head of one of bottles contained in bottle cases which are fed in an end-to-end relation by means of a conveyance system, characterized in that the cap removing parts (28, 82, 130) are disposed in an equally spaced relation around the periphery of at least one rotary member (26, 81, 129, 146, 243) rotatably supported on a frame structure so that each of the cap removing part (28, 82, 130) is brought into engagement with each of the bottle heads of the bottles (23, 21 7) in the bottle cases which are fed on the conveyance system as the rotary member (26, 81, 129, 146, 243) is rotated, the respective cap removing parts including a pawl means (50, 86, 160) adapted to be operatively engaged with a crown cap fitted on the opening rim, said crown cap being removed therefrom by way of the steps of engaging said pawl means (50, 86, 160) with the crown cap (24, 219) in an area where the linear movement of the bottle heads of the bottles contained in the bottle cases (20,219) and the circular movement track of the pawl means (50, 86, 1 60) are united with one another in the tangential relation and then removing and releasing it from the cap removing part under the influence of moment which is caused due to the difference between the circular movement track of the cap removing parts and linear movement track of the heads of the bottles.

2. A bottle opening machine according to claim 1, wherein the cap removing parts (28) are disposed at the free end parts of a plurality of arms (27) which are arranged in a single line or in plural lines on the cylindrical drum (26) in its axial direction, the arms extending in the radial direction relative to the drum (26).

3. A bottle opening machine according to claim 1, wherein the cap removing parts (82) are disposed along the periphery of at least one disc (81) which is fixedly mounted on a shaft (80).

4. A bottle opening machine according to claim 3, wherein each of the cap removing parts forms a finger block (82) disposed on the rotary disc (81) in the peripheral direction, said finger block (82) including a cap removing head (83) with a pawl means (86) embedded therein and a guide head (84) jointed to said cap removing head (83), a guide face 85) being formed between the two heads (83, 84) in such a manner as to diverge outward in the radial direction, the guide head (84) being normally urged toward the pawl means (86) on the cap removing head (83) by a spring means (87).

5. A bottle opening machine according to claim 1, wherein each of the cap removing parts (130) comprises a recess (156) formed along the periphery of the rotary disc (131, 245) in a predetermined pitch defined between the adjacent ones for holding a removed crown cap therein, a pawl means (160) fitted into said recess (156) and engaged with the lip portion of the crown cap, a permanent magnet (1 61) disposed on the recess (161) and a cap releasing member (162) swingably supported on the rotary disc and including a face adapted to come into contact with the top face of the crown cap, said face surrounding the magnet.

6. A bottle opening machine according to any one of claims 1,2 and 5, wherein the rotary members (26, 129, 146,243) include synchronizing discs (30, 134, 135, 149 and 150) on which synchronizing guide recesses (31, 169, 170) are formed in an equally spaced relation so as to be simultaneously engaged with the rear end of the preceding bottle case and the fore end of the following bottle case both of which are abutted against each other in an end-to-end relation whereby the respective cap removing parts are correctly synchronized with the heads of the bottles by means of said synchronizing guide recesses (31, 169, 170).

7. A bottle opening machine according to claim 6, wherein the synchronizing disc (30, 134, 135, 149, 1 50) is subjected to line pressure which is transmitted from the conveyance system via the bottle case conveyed thereon when the synchronizing guide grooves (31, 169, 170) on the synchronizing discs (130, 134, 135, 149, 1 50) are engaged with the rear end of the preceding bottle case the fore end of the following bottle case whereby the cap removing parts are caused to rotate by the aforesaid line pressure.

8. A bottle opening machine according to any one of claims 1,2 and 6, wherein a synchronizing mean (33, 70) is rotatably mounted on the frame structure at the upstream position of the cap removing parts so that it is caused to rotate by way of its simultaneous engagement with the rear end of the preceding bottle case and the fore end of the following bottle case, the rotation of the synchronizing means (33, 70) being then transmitted to the cap removing parts.

9. A bottle opening machine according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein each cap removing part includes a cap holding mechanism (58, 88, 161) disposed therein for holding a removed crown cap, a cap releasing mechanism (64, 90, 153, 162, 252) for releasing it at a predetermined position against the holding force of the cap holding mechanism and a cap receiving basin (65, 91, 255) for receiving the crown caps discharged therefrom.

10. A bottle opening machine according to claim 9, wherein said cap holding mechanism comprises a permanent magnet (56, 161) and a pawl means (50, 160) adapted to be engaged with the top face of a crown cap.

11. A bottle opening machine according to claim 9, wherein said cap releasing mechanism (90, 153, 252) includes a cap releasing means (93,94,154,155) which is supported swingably and elastically at the outer positions along the periphery of the cap removing parts and functions to release the cap held in the cap holding mechanism (50, 56,160, 1 61) against resilient force of a spring means (87, 165) of the mechanism (50, 56, 160, 161).

12. A bottle opening machine according to claim 1, wherein at least one rotary member (129, 146,243) with the cap removing parts (130) mounted thereon is rotatably held on a pair of arms (121, 136,235) which can swing upward or downward about a pivotal shaft located at the one end of each of said arms (121, 136,235).

13. A bottle opening machine according to claim 12, whereing the arms (121, 136) for carrying the rotary members (129, 146) thereon are normally urged upward by means of resilient members (127,141).

14. A bottle opening machine according to claims 12 and 13, wherein at least one raising and lowering member (123,140,238) for swinging the arms upward or downward relative to the frame structure is fixedly secured to the arms at the free ends thereof so that at least one rotary member is held at a raised position by actuating the raising and lowering member (123, 140,238).

1 5. A bottle opening machine according to any one of claims 12, 13 and 14, wherein a plurality of rotary members (129, 146) are disposed in a spaced relation in the direction of bottle movement, a plurality of rotary discs (131, 132, 133, 147, 148) with a number of cap removing part (130) disposed along the periphery thereof being fixedly mounted on said rotary members (129, 146), a plurality of rotary discs being located in a spaced relation in the direction of the shaft of the rotary members, corresponding to lines of bottles contained in a bottle case, the rotary discs (131, 132, 133) on the one rotary member (129) being disposed at the positions corresponding to some lines of the bottles, those on the other rotary member (146) being disposed at the different positions corresponding to the remaining lines of the bottles, the rotary members (129, 146) being held by means of the swing arms (121, 136) mounted on the frame structure.

16. A bottle opening machine according to any one of claims 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 9 to 1 5, wherein to handle bottles having a height higher than that of the side wails of a bottle case, at least one synchronizing device (224) disposed over the side walls of the bottle case so as to be engaged with the barrels of the bottles is rotatably provided at the upstream position with respect to the rotary member (243), the rotation of said synchronizing device (224) being transmitted to the rotary member (243) via a transmission mechanism (223, 225, 228, 229, 134, 232, 244, 242) so that the rotary member (243) is caused to rotate in synchronization with the synchronizing device (224).