Bottle loading machine
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to machines for loading bottles into cases. 
     Heretofore, as exemplified by that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,712,405, machines have been devised for automatically loading bottles into cases. These machines, however, have proven less than satisfactory in actual operation. For example, they have typically employed a conveyor for conveying bottles to a bottle retrieving station and another conveyor for conveying open cases into a case loading station. Either or both of these conveyors have moved into intermittent motion in order to group the bottles together, grip them at a bottle retrieving station, and load them into cases at a case loading station. This stop and go movement results in slow rates of case packing speeds, and also reduces the reliability and longivity of many machine parts. The gripping means employed in these machines have also failed to function properly in gripping without breaking grouped sets of bottles. Misalignment of any one bottle typically causes it to break or to produce less than a full complement of bottles within the case. The mechanisms employed by the machines in grouping the bottles have typically employed a number of independent conveyor belts moved at successively increasing speeds in order to effect accumulation. This has resulted in the requirement for yet additional conveyor belts and transmission means for driving them at mutually diverse speeds. At the case loading station the means for loading the groups of bottles into the cases have also been less than satisfactory in that their structures have often come into contact with the sides of the cases causing them to be bent or crushed during loading and bottles broken as they are passed through their open tops. 
     Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved machine and a method for loading bottles into cases. 
     More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle loading machine having improved means for accumulating individual bottles at a bottle accumulation station into a group. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a case loading machine with improved means for gripping and lifting a group of insulating bottles from a moving conveyor at a bottle retrieving station. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a case loading machine capable of loading bottles into cases being moved along a conveyor at a uniform velocity. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide a case loading machine into improved means for lowering a group of bottles into an open case without misalignment which may produce a crushing of the case sides or breaking of the bottles as they are inserted into the case. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one form of the invention a machine is provided for loading bottles into cases comprising bottle conveying means for continuously conveying upstanding bottles through a bottle retrieving station, bottle grouping means for grouping together into a preselected arrangement a plurality of upstanding bottles on the bottle conveyor means, case conveyor means for continually conveying open cases through a case loading station, and bottle gripper means for gripping and carrying a grouped plurality of upstanding bottles as they move through the bottle retrieving station off of the bottle conveyor means and for subsequently depositing the gripped group of bottles into an open case as it passes through the case loading station upon the case conveyor means. 
     In another form of the invention a machine is provided for loading bottles into open cases comprising an endless conveyor belt and means for driving the endless conveyor belt through a bottle grouping station, and a bottle retrieving station at a uniform rate of speed. Another endless conveyor belt is provided and means for driving it through a case loading station at a uniform rate of speed. Means are provided for grouping together into a preselected arrangement a plurality of upstanding bottles on the endless conveyor belt at the bottle grouping station, gripper means for gripping and carrying a grouped plurality of upstanding bottles at the bottle retrieving station off of the endless conveyor belt, and means for moving the gripped bottles from the bottle retrieving station to the case loading station. Means are also provided for passing open topped cases on the other endless conveyor belt through the case loading station, and means for lowering the gripped plurality of bottles into the open topped cases as they move through the case loading station. 
     In yet another form of the invention a mechanism is provided in a bottle loading machine for lifting an assembly of free standing bottles from a moving conveyor comprising a finger suspension member, a plurality of bottle gripping fingers pivotably suspended from the finger suspension member about an open space for mutually convergent and divergent movement towards and away from the open space respectively, a finger locking sleeve mounted about at least a portion of the finger suspension member and the plurality of bottle gripping fingers, and means for imparting relative movement between the finger suspension member and the finger locking sleeve to effect mutually convergent and divergent movements. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic see-through side view of a bottle loading machine of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view in more detail of the side of the machine depicted in FIG. 1 in which a case loading station is located. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view in more detail of the machine shown in FIG. 1 of the side opposite to that shown in FIG. 2 in which a bottle accumulation station and a bottle retrieving station are located. 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the bottle grouping mechanism employed in the machine shown in FIGS. 1-4. 
     FIG. 6 is an end-on view of the machine shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the bottle gripping mechanism employed in the machine of FIGS. 1-4. 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the bottle gripping mechanism depicted in FIG. 7. 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a finger component of the mechanism shown in FIG. 8 taken along plane 9--9. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     Referring now in more detail to the drawing, there is shown a bottle loading machine comprising a frame 10 upon which are movably mounted the laterally spaced parallel, a first endless conveyor belt 12 and second endless conveyor belt 14. If desired, a single, unitary belt may be substituted for these two belts. A case input conveyor belt 16 is shown sequentially mounted in advance of belt 14. An upper guide rail 18 encircles a central housing 20 as does a lower guide rail 22 mounted beneath the upper guide rail. Both the conveyor belts 12 and 14 are driven at a constant, uniform rate of speed by an electric motor 25 through transmission means designated generally at 26 and 26&#39;. 
     With continued reference to FIGS. 1-4, the machine is seen further to have four bottle gripping and carrying mechanisms 30 mounted for circuituous movement in an oval path along rails 18 and 22 consecutively and respectively above the two conveyor belts. These bottle gripping and carrying mechanisms are themselves driven at a constant speed in a horizontal direction by the electric motor 25 through a drive transmission means 32 that includes two vertical drive shafts 33 and 34 which support upper sprockets 33&#39; and 34&#39; and lower sprockets 33&#34; and 34&#34; about which an upper drive chain 35 and a lower drive chain 36 are respectively mounted for revolution about generally horizontal, vertically spaced orbits. The four bottle gripper and carrying mechanism 30 are driven by these two drive chains as shown most clearly in FIG. 1. The drive chains 35 and 36 travel in oval paths as shown for chain 35 in FIG. 4, the chains 35 and 36 having parallel flights which are respectively inwardly adjacent to the conveyor belts 12 and 14. 
     With reference next to FIGS. 3 and 5, the machine is seen to include a mechanism for assembling a group of six bottles in a pre-selected arrangement prior to becoming gripped and carried from the conveyor belt by the gripping and carrying mechanisms 30. The bottle accumulation device includes a rod 40 overlaying the conveyor belt 12 which rod is mounted to a pair of mutually coupled links 42 and 43 to a fixed pivot pin 45. A bell crank 46 is pivotably connected by pin 47 to link 42. The bell crank has a fixed pivot pin 48 and a cam follower 49 disposed in rotatable engagement with a cam 50. So constructed, rotation of cam 50 causes the bell crank and linkage to reciprocate rod 40 in a substantially horizontal plane over the conveyor belt 12. Reciprocation of the rod with bottles being sequentially fed thereto thus causes the bottles to periodically become grouped as depicted in FIG. 3. 
     With reference next to FIGS. 8 and 9, the bottle gripping and carrying mechanism is seen to include a finger suspension member 55 to which are pivotably mounted by pivot pins 56 four bottle gripping fingers 57. The lower end of the fingers are crescent-shaped as shown in FIG. 9 and are encapsulated in a pad of resilient rubber 60. These fingers are disposed about an open space adapted to receive a bottle neck as shown in broken lines in FIG. 8. They are pivotably mounted to the finger suspension member for mutual convergent and divergent movement towards and away from this open space in gripping the neck of a bottle with the substantially planar surfaces 61 of the pads in engagement with the bottle. Rigidly mounted to and extending upwardly from the finger suspension member is a tubular section 55&#39; that depends from a suspension plate 62 shown in full in FIG. 7. 
     About the finger suspension member 55 and the fingers 57 is disposed a locking sleeve 70 having four locking sleeve rollers 71 mounted in rotatable engagement with a camming surface 72 on the outwardly facing upper surfaces of fingers 57. An upper tubular portion 70&#39; of the locking sleeve is coaxially disposed about the upper portion 55&#39; of the finger suspension member. A central pin 74 bridges the open space between opposite inside surfaces of the tubular section 55&#39; passing through a slot 76 in an actuating rod 77 that projects upwardly and out of the top of the tubular section 55&#39;. To the top of the actuating rod is mounted a cam roller 78 by means of a roller pin 79. A compression spring 80 is disposed between an upper surface 81 of the locking sleeve and a downwardly facing surface 82 of plate 62 thereby biasing the locking sleeve downwardly. 
     As may be visualized by reference to FIG. 7, there are six of these bottle gripping and lifting mechanisms mounted to a single plate 82 with cam rollers 78 being located closely adjacent or in actual contact with cams 82. These cams are interconnected by a frame 83 and are movable towards and away from their adjacent cam rollers by means of a rotatable rod 84 rigidly connected to a trip lever 85. The six gripping and carrying mechanisms thus are all mounted generally within a single gripper housing 90 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, which depends from a pillar 91 coupled by vertical posts 92 to the driving chains 35 and 36. 
     With reference next to FIGS. 3 and 7 the bottle gripping and carrying mechanism are seen further to include a cellular collar 95 having six tubular, vertical passageways therethrough sized to receive a group of six bottles. The interior cellular structure of the collar is provided by a longitudinal center wall 104 and to parallel lateral walls 105. Each collar is mounted below the bottle gripper mechanism housing 90 to the vertical posts 92. The relative vertical spacing between each vertically aligned collar and gripper housing, however, is subject to spacial variations due to differences in the elevations of rails 18 and 22 as they extend about the central machine housing 20. While the elevation of the gripper housing is determined at any one point by its location along rail 18, that of the collar is determined by its position along rail 22. In FIG. 6, for example, the gripper housings 90 are seen to be vertically located by the positions of roller 98 upon rail 18 while the vertical positions of collars 95 are seen to be determined by the position of rollers 99 upon rails 22. Posts 92 are supported by rollers 100 upon rails 101 in addition to being coupled to the drive chains 35 and 36. 
     With reference next to FIG. 2 the case infeed conveyor 16 is seen to pass adjacent a lateral stop 107 which intercepts the path that opened topped cases 108 pass. A push plate 109 is mounted to the end of a push rod 110 adjacent the stop 107 for lateral movement over the conveyor belt 16. Atop the conveyor belt 14 is mounted a series of angle irons 112 that serve to position cases 108 situated upon the conveyor belt 14. 
     In general operation, bottles are introduced onto the conveyor belt in one direction as indicated by arrow 141 in FIG. 4. They are accumulated into sets of six and then lifted by the bottle gripping and carrying mechanism as it passes thereover. The mechanism then proceeds over the conveyor belt 12, around an end of the machine and then over belt 14. The gripper then deposits the bottles into an open case which has been fed into the machine in the other direction shown by arrow 140 atop belt 14. Once the bottles are deposited into the open case, the gripper mechanism continues on around the other end of the machine and back over belt 12 to receive another set of bottles and repeat its cycle of operation. 
     More specifically as seen in FIG. 3 bottles are fed one at a time towards the bottle grouping mechanism bar 40 which is reciprocally driven over the conveyor belt 12. This is accomplished by the mechanism previously described and illustrated in FIG. 5. Once a set of bottles is grouped together an individual bottle gripping and carrying mechanism passes down above and over the tops of the bottles bringing collar 95 over the bottles as they move along belt 12. The positioning of the cellular collar 95 causes the bottles to assume a more precise relative spacing with respect to each other for subsequent operation of the gripper fingers. In FIG. 3 it is seen that rail 22 descends slightly in advance of rail 18 thereby causing the collar to descend in advance of the gripper fingers. The fingers themselves are actuated by a cam 178 shown in FIG. 6 that directly engages the spring biased lever 82 shown in FIG. 7. This action forces cams 82 away from cam rollers 78 thereby enabling the cam rollers 78 and actuator 77 to descend from its position shown in broken lines in FIG. 8. This causes the finger locking collar 70 to move downwardly and rollers 71 to cam fingers 57 inwardly. This brings them into gripping engagement with the neck of the bottle. This action occurs simultaneously with all six sets of four fingers each disposed about the six bottles disposed within the cellular collar 95. Continued movement of the bottle gripping and lifting mechanism along rails 18 and 22 guides the mechanism upwardly thereby lifting the upstanding bottles off the conveyor belt 12 and causing them to travel on around the right hand end of the machine as viewed in FIG. 3. The presence of the collar prevents them from swinging outwardly as they round the machine end. 
     With reference next to FIG. 2 it will be seen that cases 108 introduced into the machine upon conveyor belt 16 are brought into abutment with stop 107. Timed operation of the pusher 109 periodically forces a case momentarily held by stop 107 to the left as viewed in this Figure into the indentation 183. From here the case is free to move on beyond stop 107 and be picked up by the next successive angle iron 108 and positively urged forward on conveyor belt 14. In timed sequences with this operation, a loaded bottle gripping and carrying mechanism comes from behind the left side of the machine as viewed in FIG. 2 and positions a group of bottles directly above the open top case 108 now continually being moved by the belt 14. Again the elevation of rails 18 and 22 is such as to cause the bottle gripper to lower the gripped set of bottles into the open topped case. As this occurs collar 95 slides into the top of the open case thereby guiding the group thereinto. Operation of lever 85 by another cam causes the fixed cams 82 to move under the cam rollers 78 thereby enabling the finger lock sleeve to rise and release fingers 57 from about the bottles. Following release of the bottles the bottle gripping and lifting mechanism is lifted and returned around the right end of the machine as viewed in FIG. 2 along rails 18 and 22 to start another cycle of operation. 
     It should be understood that the just described embodiment merely illustrates principles of the present invention in one preferred form. Many modifications, additions and deletions may, of course, be made thereto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set foth in the following claims.