Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67C—CLEANING, FILLING WITH LIQUIDS OR SEMILIQUIDS, OR EMPTYING, OF BOTTLES, JARS, CANS, CASKS, BARRELS, OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; FUNNELS
  • B67C3/00—Bottling liquids or semiliquids; Filling jars or cans with liquids or semiliquids using bottling or like apparatus; Filling casks or barrels with liquids or semiliquids
  • B67C3/02—Bottling liquids or semiliquids; Filling jars or cans with liquids or semiliquids using bottling or like apparatus
  • B67C3/22—Details
  • B67C3/24—Devices for supporting or handling bottles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B31/00—Packaging articles or materials under special atmospheric or gaseous conditions; Adding propellants to aerosol containers
  • B65B31/003—Adding propellants in fluid form to aerosol containers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B43/00—Forming, feeding, opening or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
  • B65B43/42—Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up state; Feeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging position; Locating containers or receptacles at the filling position; Supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
  • B65B43/54—Means for supporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
  • B65G2201/02—Articles
  • B65G2201/0235—Containers
  • B65G2201/0261—Puck as article support

Definitions

• Containers may fall over, causing neighbouring containers to fall in a "domino" fashion.
• Container stability issues may limit the velocity at which the containers may be conveyed.
• propellant may escape from the containers and result in the container acting as a projectile.
• the containers are not held securely during parts of the conveying process, then they do typically have to be held securely during the filling and sealing parts of the process. This means that apparatus must be arranged to engage and grip the containers during just parts of the process, and this creates engineering problems to be solved, and may result in damage to the containers in the transition from the un-held to the held state.
• Another problem is that if the jaws are adjusted so as not to firmly grip a container (which as described above can damage the container) then a container is supported by the puck in only a rattling fit. Thus, if there is a subsequent problem with the filling and sealing operation of the container, the container can become a projectile. Furthermore, if crushing damage is avoided by adjusting the jaws so as to be a rattling fit, then rattling of the container between the jaws as the puck is conveyed along the production line can damage the exterior of the container. Furthermore, the rattling may agitate contents of the container.
• the rectangular footprints of the base piece requires a dedicated conveyor system to be provided, different from the types of conveyor system adapted for use in conveying and filling generally cylindrical containers on their own (i.e. without a carrier puck or holder) .
• the combination of puck and container may have a relatively high centre of gravity.
• this slidable coupling between each jaw and the body portion is achieved by mounting each jaw on a respective ramp or ramped surface of the body portion.
• the holder can be handled by apparatus adapted to handle cylindrical objects.
• the holder with the cylindrical outer surface can be handled as if it were itself a cylindrical container, such that no adaption, or little adaption of existing production line apparatus may be required.
• the jaws are slidable along their respective tracks to enable opening of the gripping surfaces with respect to the first axis to permit insertion of a container at least partly into the cavity and to enable closing of the gripping surfaces with respect to the first axis to engage and grip a container so inserted.
• this provides the advantage that the centre of gravity of the combination of holder and container may be lowered, making the arrangement more stable and less likely to fall over if unsupported. By lowering the centre of gravity, this can also reduce the holding force required from the production line to keep the holder in a desired orientation. These factors in turn enable the holders, with their inserted containers, to be conveyed at higher velocities and at higher accelerations along and around a production line, thereby increasing throughput.
• the arrangement is such that as the jaws move together along the first axis, the gripping surfaces diverge or converge symmetrically about the first axis .
• the plurality of jaws comprises two jaws diametrically opposed about the first axis.
• the total number of jaws may be 2, 3, 4, 5, or even greater.
• different gripping surfaces can engage the outer surfaces of containers having different container diameters.
• each second gripping surface is spaced from the respective first gripping surface in a radial direction with respect to the first axis.
• each jaw comprises a respective drainage channel arranged between the respective first and second gripping surfaces.
• the support surface can have a single radius of curvature.
• each support surface comprises a plurality of respective curved portions having a plurality of radii of curvature and arranged to define parts of surfaces of cylinders having longitudinal axes parallel to or coincident with the first axis.
• each jaw comprises at least one respective abutment surface arranged to face in a direction generally parallel to the first axis and so as to engage an end surface of a cylindrical container inserted between the jaw gripping surfaces (e . g . along the central axis), whereby further insertion of a said container moves the engaged abutment surfaces along the first axis and urges the gripping surfaces to converge on and grip the container.
• This arrangement provides the advantage that the jaws can automatically close on and grip a container as that container is inserted between the jaws and pushed along the first axis (e.g. the jaws can close on and grip a container as a container is pushed down into the central cavity of the base portion, between the jaws) .
• each second abutment surface is spaced from the respective first abutment surface in a direction parallel to the first axis.
• the holder further comprises ferromagnetic means arranged to enable a holding force to be applied to the holder magnetically.
• the body portion comprises first and second halves and attachment means for securing the first and second halves together.
• actuating means arranged to actuate the gripping means to engage and grip a said container in response to insertion of the container into the cavity.
• just one sliding jaw may be employed, slidable to wedge against and grip a container, in combination with a fixed other gripping surface.
• all of the gripping surfaces may themselves be moveable with respect to the base portion.
• each gripping surface may be a surface of a sliding jaw, but in other arrangements at least one gripping surface may be a surface other than a jaw surface, such as a roller surface.
• all of the jaws may be slidably mounted to slide along tracks inclined with respect to the axis.
• at least one of the jaws may be arranged to slide along a track which is parallel to the axis.
• Fig. 4 is a top view of the first embodiment with the jaws in an open, or extended, position
• Fig. 5 is another view of the holder of the first embodiment with the jaws in an extended, or open, position;
• Fig. 6 is a base view of the holder of the first embodiment with the jaws fully retracted inside the body portion;
• Fig. 9 is a side view of the first embodiment with the jaws in an extended position for receiving a cylindrical container ;
• Fig. 10 is a cross section of the first embodiment, along line A-A of Fig. 9;
• Fig. 11 is a side view of the first embodiment with a container received between the jaws and the jaws slid into a position in which they are locked on the container;
• Figs. 13 and 14 are views of the reverse sides of first and second flexible components of one of the jaws of the first embodiment, illustrating the radii of the various curved portions of the gripping surfaces and the radii of curvature of the rear-facing surfaces;
• Fig. 18 is a schematic cross section of the jaw of another embodiment ;
• Fig. 19 is a schematic cross section of the jaw of yet another embodiment
• Fig. 20 is a schematic cross section of the jaw member of another embodiment
• Fig. 22 is an exploded view of components of another holder embodying the invention.
• Fig. 23 is another exploded view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 19;
• Fig. 24 is a diagram illustrating the portions of the outer surface of a cylindrical container directly engaged by the jaw of an embodiment of the invention.
• the holder comprises a body portion 1 formed from two substantially identical body portion halves la and lb. These halves la and lb are secured together by means of fastening means 16 (which can in certain embodiments be combinations of nuts and bolts or other equivalent fasteners) located so as to pass through aligned holes 160 and 161.
• the attachment means in this example also comprises a plurality of pins 17 which are arranged to locate in aligned recesses 171 in each half to correctly locate the halves with respect to each other. These pins 17 can also be regarded as functioning as dowels.
• each jaw possessing a pair of longitudinally extending ribs 200 which are received in corresponding slots 201 in the respective body portion half.
• These ribs 200 and slots or grooves 201 constrain the jaw 2 so that a flat sliding surface 23 can slide in just one direction with respect to a substantially flat sliding surface 14 provided on the corresponding body portion half.
• Each of these body portion sliding surfaces 14 is inclined at the same angle with respect to the central axis A, and in this example that angle of inclination is 3°. In other embodiments the angle may be in the range 3-7°, or indeed may have other values.
• the holder can be actuated by insertion of the container itself.
• the holder does not require any separate actuating means for the jaws as they will close automatically on the container as the container is inserted, down into the cavity 3 into the space between the opposing jaws.
• the jaws are arranged such that a flat jaw slide surface 23 slides with respect to a corresponding flat body portion slide surface (which may also be referred to as a support surface) there is no direct contact between the jaw slide surface 23 and the body portion slide surface 14.
• These surfaces 23 and 14 are spaced apart by means of resilient track members 6 received within corresponding track member slots or cavities 61 in the body portion halves la, lb.
• the slide surface 23 of a jaw is in direct contact with the inwardly facing surface of the respective track members 6.
• a respective further resilient member 7 Spaced from the upper end of each track member there is provided a respective further resilient member 7 in the form of a cylinder of resilient material.
• the holder assembly comprises a second ferromagnetic plate 82 secured at an upper end of the body portion by a further set of screws 820.
• this second plate is received in a correspondingly shaped recess 182 provided at the end of the body portion such that an upper surface of the plate 82 is flush with (i.e. coincident with) an uppermost surface 185 of the body.
• This second ferromagnetic plate 82 also enables the holder to be held magnetically at its nominal upper end, and so provides greater flexibility in how to arrange conveying of empty holders (when the jaws can be fully received inside the cavity 3) around a production line.
• the radially extending flanges at either axial end of the body portion, with their shoulder surfaces 121 and 131 provide further means by which the holder can be constrained and held while it is transported around a production line.
• a conveying line can be arranged to support the holder in an inverted arrangement for example, by suitably engaging with the shoulder 131.
• Fig. 2 shows further detail of the coupling rods 51, and also illustrates how the lower, laterally extending part 261 of the rigid portion of each jaw provides a further gripping surface 29 for engaging the outer surface of containers having an even smaller diameter.
• This further surface 29 has a uniform radius, is a surface of the respective rigid portion 26, and is suitable for gripping cylindrical containers of the same radius.
• the jaw arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is thus able to engage, grip and securely hold (i.e. lock onto) a wide range of diameters of containers, and indeed containers which are not perfectly or generally cylindrical .
• FIG. 6 this is a base perspective view showing the underside of the holder of Fig. 1 with the jaws fully retracted inside the body portion.
• the generally flat base surface 15 is provided by the lowermost surface of the ferromagnetic plate 81 and a portion 186 of the surface of the body portion.
• opposing surfaces of the laterally extending portions 261 of the jaws 2 have almost met and the stop members 41 have reached the ends of their travels in the respective slots 42 so as to inhibit further downward motion of the jaws, bringing the lowermost surfaces of the jaw rigid members to rest at a position in which they are generally coplanar with the base surface 15.
• downward motion of the jaws may be limited by other means, such as by the portions 261 meeting each other.
• Figs. 13 and 14 show in some more detail the first and second resilient portions or components 27, 28 of a jaw 2 of the first embodiments.
• a plurality of resilient fingers or protrusions 289 extend rearwardly from the first resilient portion 27 (in this example there are six such resilient fingers).
• nine resilient fingers 289 extend from a rear face of the second resilient portion 28. These fingers 289 are for receiving in corresponding cavities 2000 in the rigid portions of the jaws to hold the resilient portions in place.
• the inner profile of the jaws, in the section that comes into contact with the container, is made of soft rubber and consists of a scaled set of circumferences with a defined area, which ensures gripping of containers with diameters ranging from 35 to 65 mm.
• the ferromagnetic plate discs applied to the top and the base of the holder give it the necessary characteristics for moving on magnetic conveyors, allowing for flexibility of the type of movement (horizontal, vertical, inverted position or at any angle of inclination) .
• Use of anti-spark and anti-static metallization on the aforementioned plates, as well as use of plastic anti-spark and anti-static materials in the construction of the holder allow it to be used in explosive atmospheres, namely during the filling of aerosol containers.
• Fig. 18 shows a cross section of a jaw member 2 formed from semi-rigid material, having a gripping surface 21 comprising a plurality of curved portions, each curved portion having a respective radius of curvature and defining part of a cylindrical surface.
• a central portion of the gripping surface 21 has a radius ri
• second curved portions are arranged on either side of the central portion and each have a radius of curvature ⁇ 2, where r z is greater than ri
• third curved portions are arranged on either side of the second curved portions, those third curved portions having a third radius of curvature r 3 , where r 3 is greater than ⁇ 2 ⁇
• Fig. 21 shows yet another arrangement in which both the support surface of the rigid portion 26 and the gripping surface of the resilient, or flexible, portion 27 are shaped so that they each comprise a respective plurality of curved portions having different radii of curvature.
• the rear surface of the flexible portion 27 is also shaped so as to conform with the shape of the support surface.
• Each gripping surface 21 comprises a central curved portion 211 having a first radius of curvature, two second curved portions 212 on either side of the first curved portion 211, each of the second curved portions having a second radius of curvature greater than the first radius of curvature, and a pair of third curved portions 213, on either side of the second curved portions 212, each third curved portion 213 having a third radius of curvature larger than the second radius of curvature .
• the jaws 2 are partially located within the central cavity 3 inside the holder body 1 and have wedged against, and gripped, the container surface at a plurality of points simply by virtue of urging the container downwards into the holder, a base of the container having engaged with the respective abutment surfaces of the jaws 2.
• the slidably mounted jaws of embodiments of the invention can be regarded as providing combined gripping and actuating means, the gripping means being coupled to the body portion and operable to engage and grip a container inserted into a cavity in the body portion, and the actuating means being arranged to actuate the gripping means to engage and grip a container in response to its insertion into the cavity.
• the gripping means being coupled to the body portion and operable to engage and grip a container inserted into a cavity in the body portion
• the actuating means being arranged to actuate the gripping means to engage and grip a container in response to its insertion into the cavity.
• FIG. 26 A plurality of jaw assemblies or members are pivotally coupled to the body portion so that when a container is inserted into the cavity 3 the base of the container B engages portions 299 of the jaws and causes them to rotate about their respective rotational axes, or pivots, P, bringing their gripping surfaces 21 into engagement with the container.
• the holder can be arranged with suitable means for preventing the jaws from releasing the container without operation of a release mechanism.
• the actuating means further comprises a piston 911 which can be controllably extended or withdrawn in a direction parallel to the axis A from the body 912. At an end of the piston 911, there is provided a flat engagement surface 913 for bringing into contact with the downward facing surfaces 260 of the jaws 2.
• the actuator 910 can be controlled to extend the piston 911 from the body 912, bringing surface 913 into contact with the lower surfaces 260 of jaws. Then, further upward motion of the piston 911 in the figure drives the jaws 2 upwards, along their respective tracks, and so increases their separation.
• a controller 930 controls the operation of the actuator 910.
• the system also includes sensing means 915 coupled to, or an integral part of, the actuating means 910 and which is arranged to provide the controller 930 with an indication of the position of the piston 911.
• this sensing means 915 provides feedback on the position of the piston 911 to the controller 930, and the controller is arranged to use this feedback signal to accurately control the position of the piston 911, hence the position of the end surface 913, and hence the separation of the jaws 2 and the position of their lower surfaces 260.
• the system also comprises means for inserting a container C into the holder, this means for inserting comprising a further actuator body 922, secured to a support surface S3 (which is also fixed in position with relation to supports SI and S2) .
• the actuator body 922 is controllable by the control means 930 to extend or withdraw a piston 921 from it, again in a direction generally parallel to the axis A of the holder.
• Attached to the piston 921 is a container holding means 923 which can grip a container C while it is being inserted in the holder.
• a sensor or feed back unit 925 is arranged to provide the controller 930 with a signal accurately indicative of the position of the piston 921.
• the controller 930 is able to control the container insertion means to place the container C down into the jaws of the holder and to accurately control the height of the container C with respect to the support SI.
• the controller 930 is also adapted so that it can control the forces applied to the container.
• the controller 930 in this embodiment knows precisely the relative positions of the pistons, and hence the container and the jaws.
• a container is typically held in the holding means 923 and the actuator 910 is operated so as to drive the jaws upwards to achieve a known separation of the gripping surfaces 21, 22, sufficient to permit insertion of the container C between them.
• the controller 930 controls the container inserting means to extend the piston 921 and push the container C down between the jaws.
• the controller 930 may be further arranged to operate the actuator 910 such that, when the base of the container C engages one of the abutment surfaces 291, 292, the surface 913 of the actuator piston assembly is in contact with the lower surfaces 260 of the jaws.
• Fig. 28 shows the sensors or feedback units 915, 925 as being separate from the actuators 910 and 922, in alternative embodiments this sensing or feedback may be achieved by alternative means, such as by incorporating linear encoders on the pistons 911, 921 themselves.
• an advantage of the system shown in Fig. 28 is that gripping of the container can be simply achieved by pushing a container down into the jaws, which action results in the sliding jaws automatically closing on the container.
• the positional feedback which the controller 930 receives enables the controller to accurately control the height of the container, and also enables the controller to make adjustments to take account of any wear of the holder components or surfaces. In this way, containers of a particular side can be consistently inserted and held in the holder at a well defined height with respect to the various supports SI, S2 and S3.
• embodiments of the invention in its broadest sense is not limited to holders for such containers. Indeed, embodiments of the invention may be adapted to hold a wide variety of containers, formed from a variety of materials and in a variety of shapes and sizes. Thus, in addition to holders for metallic containers, holders embodying the invention may be adapted for use with non-metallic containers, such as glass or plastic containers, and for non-aerosol containers. Holders embodying the invention may be used to hold rigid containers and/or semi-rigid containers, or indeed other rigid or semi-rigid objects having similar shapes and dimensions.
• certain holders embodying the invention can work with all cans from 35 to 65mm diameters.
• aerosol cans having the diameter 35mm are known, as are cans having the diameter 40mm, and cans with progressively larger diameters, progressing by 0.1 mm up to and including 65mm.
• Certain embodiments can work with all typical sizes of cans of the aerosol market.
• surface 29 is to grip size 35mm diameter cans only.
• the rubber cylindrical surfaces of the jaws are to grip the sizes from 40 to 65mm. It is possible to have more sizes (diameters) in other embodiments, but for the current aerosol market the design of the embodiment of fig. 1 has all diameters needed. In the current aerosol market we do not have sizes between 35 and 40mm diameters.
• the rubber members are arranged to leave gaps 15 and 515 between themselves and the can-base engaging surfaces 291 and 212. This arrangement is important because of the fold on the bottom of the can on non-aluminum cans. These gaps avoid the folds being in contact with the jaws' gripping surfaces, and so enable the holder to provide uniform gripping forces with the jaws.
• Certain embodiments are able to receive and grip containers having diameters typical in the current aerosol market (that is from 35 to 65 mm) .
• the holder may have the capacity to log onto an inserted container (e.g. can) .
• the holder may be manufactured from materials such that it is both light, and can be operated with temperatures up to 90°C or even higher.
• the holder may be adapted so that it is able to dissipate the static electricity, and the holder may be further adapted so that it can be carried by magnetic means, either by its top surface or bottom surface, as a result of, for example, iron plates incorporated at its axial ends. These iron plates may be metallised by suitable material to inhibit corrosion for example.
• Embodiments incorporating the ferromagnetic plates can thus be used on aerial conveyors. Even those embodiments without magnetic means may be used on aerial conveyors, provided that alternative means are provided for engaging with the holder body, such as arrangements to engage with radial flanges at the axial ends of the body. Certain embodiments are robust, stable due to having a low centre of gravity, protect the can/container as it is conveyed around the production line or circuit, and grips the can/container securely to avoid the container becoming a projectile in the case of a malfunction.
• the holder may be adapted so as to be compatible with immersion in water or other fluids, and so can be used on aerosol baths which are known in the aerosol filling field.
• a separate actuator, actuating means, or actuating assembly may be provided to drive the jaws up and down to release/grip the containers.
• the jaws may be supported on ramped surfaces, such that they can be driven downwards or upwards to close or open the jaws for containing insertion.
• a support which may be part of an actuating mechanism, may be arranged to limit the motion of the jaws in one direction along the first axis, so as to accurately define the base position at which a container comes to a rest, gripped between the jaws.
• the slidable mounting of the jaws with respect to the body portion can be achieved in a variety of ways.
• the jaws may be arranged to slide over ramped surfaces, the jaws may be arranged on rails, or the jaws may be arranged to slide with respect to the body portion in some other way.
• a variety of materials can be used in the manufacture of the holders embodying the invention, and these materials may, for example, be selected for compatibility with food processing applications.
• Certain embodiments may use gripping surfaces having a single radius curvature. However, although these can provide a good contact area with a single diameter of can, other embodiments employed jaws having gripping surfaces with a plurality of different radii, such that substantial contact areas may be gripped for a variety of container diameters .
• the jaws are coupled by suitable means such that their movements along their respective tracks are synchronised.
• Certain embodiments are able to engage and grip a wide variety of diameters of containers simply by inserting those containers down between the jaws, and do not require any manual adjustment.
• Certain embodiments have a generally circular base, that is they have a generally circular footprint when placed on a production line.
• certain embodiments of the invention provide a holder with ramp-mounted jaws, which can either be closed onto a container by a suitably arranged actuator to slide the jaws down, or which can close automatically by insertion of a container down into the cavity defined between the jaws.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Containers Having Bodies Formed In One Piece (AREA)
• Nitrogen And Oxygen Or Sulfur-Condensed Heterocyclic Ring Systems (AREA)
• Filling Of Jars Or Cans And Processes For Cleaning And Sealing Jars (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (6)

Citations (6)

• 2010
  • 2010-04-21 PT PT10506210A patent/PT105062B/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2010-12-07 WO PCT/IB2010/055636 patent/WO2011132037A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (6)

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