US3659486A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
High speed trim machine for blown plastic articles
Assignee: OI Glass Inc
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Filing: 1970-03-09
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Granted: 1972-05-02
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Expires: 1990-03-09
Abstract
Abstract This disclosure proposes a method and apparatus for removing integral flash from a blown plastic article. The articles are serially fed to and retained in pockets formed at the peripheries of continuously rotating, axially spaced plates, the article flash portions projecting laterally beyond the plates. The articles are cammed into and out of the retention pockets, and a cam actuated locking mechanism is utilized to retain the articles in the pockets against movement relative to the plates. An individual flash-severing mechanism advances into contact with the flash of each article and rotates relative to the flash to sever it from the article. In the event that the article is a bottle or the like having a flash which completely closes the neck or finish of the bottle, an initial flash severing is accomplished to open the end of the finish prior to advancement of the individual flash-severing mechanism. The mechanism is entirely mechanically actuated by cams and the like, and no limit switches or other sequence-controlling mechanism are necessary.
Inventors
- 👤 Donald H Criss
- 👤 Robert F Kontz
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 20:21
CPC Classifications
B; B29; B29C; B29C49/00; B29C49/42; B29C49/72; B29C49/74; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T82/00; Y10T82/16; Y10T82/16016; Y10T82/16032; Y10T82/16426; Y10T82/16639; Y10T82/16967
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
175 words
In an apparatus for trimming flash from a plastic bottle, a support shaft, a pair of parallel plates axially spaced on said shaft for rotation in a single direction, a pocket in each of said plates, each such pocket opening onto the plate periphery, said pockets being in axial and radial alignment to cooperably receive a single bottle, means for positioning a bottle to be trimmed adjacent the peripheries of said plates, abutment surfaces on said plates adjacent the trailing edge of each pocket for engagement with the bottle to feed the bottle with integrally formed flash radially of the plates into said pockets at a first point at the periphery of said plates, means for radially removing a flash-free bottle from said pockets at a second point peripherally displaced from said first point in the direction of rotation of said plates, and flash-severing means engageable with the bottle flash as said bottle is positioned in said pockets and as the bottle is carried by said plates from said first position to said second position.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
175 words
In an apparatus for trimming flash from a plastic bottle, a support shaft, a pair of parallel plates axially spaced on said shaft for rotation in a single direction, a pocket in each of said plates, each such pocket opening onto the plate periphery, said pockets being in axial and radial alignment to cooperably receive a single bottle, means for positioning a bottle to be trimmed adjacent the peripheries of said plates, abutment surfaces on said plates adjacent the trailing edge of each pocket for engagement with the bottle to feed the bottle with integrally formed flash radially of the plates into said pockets at a first point at the periphery of said plates, means for radially removing a flash-free bottle from said pockets at a second point peripherally displaced from said first point in the direction of rotation of said plates, and flash-severing means engageable with the bottle flash as said bottle is positioned in said pockets and as the bottle is carried by said plates from said first position to said second position.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus defined in claim 1, with the addition of means carried by one of said plates and engageable with the bottle to secure said bottle to said one plate and in said pockets prior to engagement of said flash-severing means with said bottle flash.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
69 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein the added means includes a pair of chuck arms each medially pivoted to the plate intermediate cooperable bottle-engaging surfaces and actuating projections, means normally biasing said surfaces apart, and projection-engaging wedge means urging said chuck arms about their medial pivots against said biasing means to force said bottle-engaging surfaces into engagement with said bottle to retain the bottle in said pockets.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
94 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said flash-severing means includes a cutter spindle rotatable with said plate and also rotatable relative to said bottle carried by said plate, means for axially displacing said cutter spindle relative to said one plate and relative to said bottle, cutter means axially displaceable with said spindle and rotatable relative to the bottle with the spindle, and linkage means interconnecting said cutter means and said spindle for moving said cutter means relative to said spindle into and out of engagement with a flash portion of said bottle.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
79 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the spindle displacing means is actuated only after a bottle in said pockets has traveled from said first point past a saw effective to remove a portion only of the flash from the bottle to open one end of the bottle, the displacement of said spindle inserts the cutter means into the bottle open end, and the last named means engages the cutter means with the remainder of the bottle flash.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the bottle feeding means and removing means include fixed, axially spaced side sheets between which said plates rotate, said side sheets having cam surfaces cooperable with said abutment surfaces on said plates to displace bottles radially of said shaft into and out of said pockets.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said fixed side sheets are quadrant-shaped to provide adjacent bottle feeding and removing locations at the peripheries of said plates while leaving the bottle exposed at the major portion of said peripheries of said plates for operation of said flash severing means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the abutment surface of each plate is a radially extending cam projection located at the trailing edgE of the pocket therein, which cam projections retain the bottle against the side sheet cam surfaces as the bottle moves with the plates between said side sheets.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
175 words
In an apparatus for trimming integral finish flash from a plastic bottle, a shaft, rotatable means on said shaft for retaining a plurality of peripherally spaced bottles with their axes parallel to said shaft and their finishes with integral flash facing in one direction, carrier means co-rotatable with said rotatable means and projecting radially from said shaft and spaced axaially of said shaft from the bottle finishes, a plurality of primary flash-severing means mounted on and co-rotatable with said carrier means for movement axially of said shaft toward and away from said bottle finishes, means individually to each of said primary flash severing means for moving said flash severing means axially relative to the bottle finishes, means for sequentially and individually moving said primary flash-severing means into and out of severing relation with said bottle flash and additional flash-severing means for initially severing the flash to form an opening communcating with the bottle finish and accommodating entry of the primary flash-severing means into said opening upon movement of said primary means axially of said shaft.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
175 words
In an apparatus for trimming integral finish flash from a plastic bottle, a shaft, rotatable means on said shaft for retaining a plurality of peripherally spaced bottles with their axes parallel to said shaft and their finishes with integral flash facing in one direction, carrier means co-rotatable with said rotatable means and projecting radially from said shaft and spaced axaially of said shaft from the bottle finishes, a plurality of primary flash-severing means mounted on and co-rotatable with said carrier means for movement axially of said shaft toward and away from said bottle finishes, means individually to each of said primary flash severing means for moving said flash severing means axially relative to the bottle finishes, means for sequentially and individually moving said primary flash-severing means into and out of severing relation with said bottle flash and additional flash-severing means for initially severing the flash to form an opening communcating with the bottle finish and accommodating entry of the primary flash-severing means into said opening upon movement of said primary means axially of said shaft.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
53 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said primary flash-severing means comprises concentric carrying spindle and actuator rod elements both extending parallel to said shaft and sequentially actuated to (1) insert flash-severing severing elements into said opening and (2) bring said flash-severing elements into cutting engagement with the flash adjacent said opening.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said spindle and said rod carry separate flash-severing anvil and cutter elements which are commonly rotatable relative to the bottle and the flash integral therewith.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein said spindle and said actuator rod are separately displaced by individual cams and cam followers as a consequence of rotation of said carrier means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
59 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said primary flash-severing means includes a cutter element rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis of said shaft and driven by a sun gear co-axial with said shaft, and means carried by one of said plates for securing said bottle against rotation relative to said plates throughout the flash-severing operation.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a method of severing flash from a bottle, the flash being integral with the finish of the bottle, the steps of placing the bottle in a carrier rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis of the bottle, moving the bottle arcuately about the axis of rotation, during such movement severing a portion only of the flash to form in the flash an opening communicating with the bottle finish, inserting a cutting element through said opening and into the bottle, contacting the cutting element with the flash adjacent said opening to sever the flash from the inside of the bottle outwardly, and finally removing the flash-free bottle from the carrier.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
111 words
In a method of severing flash from a bottle, the flash being integral with the finish of the bottle, the steps of placing the bottle in a carrier rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis of the bottle, moving the bottle arcuately about the axis of rotation, during such movement severing a portion only of the flash to form in the flash an opening communicating with the bottle finish, inserting a cutting element through said opening and into the bottle, contacting the cutting element with the flash adjacent said opening to sever the flash from the inside of the bottle outwardly, and finally removing the flash-free bottle from the carrier.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
111 words
In an apparatus for severing an annular waste portion surrounding an aperture in a plastic bottle or the like, a tubular spindle axially displaceable relative to the bottle, means for displacing said spindle axially, an actuating rod projecting axially of said spindle for reciprocation independently of said spindle, means for axially reciprocating said rod, means for co-rotating said spindle and said rod, and cooperable waste-severing elements carried by said spindle and said rod, displacement of said spindle and actuation of said rod positioning said elements in contact with said waste portion and rotation of said spindle and said rod moving said elements relative to said waste portion to sever the same.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
111 words
In an apparatus for severing an annular waste portion surrounding an aperture in a plastic bottle or the like, a tubular spindle axially displaceable relative to the bottle, means for displacing said spindle axially, an actuating rod projecting axially of said spindle for reciprocation independently of said spindle, means for axially reciprocating said rod, means for co-rotating said spindle and said rod, and cooperable waste-severing elements carried by said spindle and said rod, displacement of said spindle and actuation of said rod positioning said elements in contact with said waste portion and rotation of said spindle and said rod moving said elements relative to said waste portion to sever the same.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
71 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the waste-severing element carried by said spindle projects radially thereof for contacting an exterior surface of said waste pOrtion and the waste-severing element carried by said rod normally is aligned axially with the rod for insertion into the bottle but is actuated to a radially displaced severing position aligned with the spindle-carried element when the rod is actuated axially relative to the spindle.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
60 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 16, wherein the rod-carried waste-severing element is pivoted to said spindle through an actuating lever movable upon reciprocation of said rod between an axially aligned position at which said element is insertable into and removable from said bottle and a radially offset position at which the element is in contact with said waste portion.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the spindle is displaced and the rod is reciprocated by separate cam means, respectively.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1975-05-02 | 1975-11-01 | 1976-05-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-05-02 | 1979-11-01 | 1980-05-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-05-02 | 1983-11-01 | 1984-05-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |