Blow-molded bottles of thermoplastic synthetic resinous material are, for unavoidable reasons, produced with round bottoms and it is, therefore desireable to apply flat-bottomed base cups to the bottles so that they will stand up. One machine for applying flat-bottomed base cups to bottles with round bottoms is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,584.
One object of this invention is to provide an improved machine for applying flat-bottomed base cups to round-bottomed bottles.
More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide such a machine with a loader mechanism adapted to transfer a plurality of bottles received from the blow-molding machine directly and simultaneously to an orbiting conveyor on which the base cups are applied to the bottles. The plastic bottles are formed in a well-known manner several at a time in the chambers of a blow-molding machine from which they are deposited on the loader mechanism.
The loader mechanism in the specific embodiment about to be described is a pivoted structure adapted to swing about a horizontal axis to transfer several bottles simultaneously to the orbiting conveyor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a machine in which the base cups are applied to the bottles automatically in response to the movement of an orbiting conveyor, preferably by means of a cam rail located beneath the conveyor.
Another object is to provide a machine in which an orbiting conveyor supports a plurality of support units of novel construction each comprising a bottle holder and a base cup seat beneath the bottle holder.
Another object is to provide a machine having novel means for moving a line of base cups to an orbiting conveyor on which the base cups are applied to the bottles and simultaneously for carrying away the bottles after the base cups have been applied.