US3418020A - Wareholder - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 24, 1968 J. G. BRUBAKER WAREHOLDER Filed Oct. 22, 1965 R R E M mA m ww K a G. w

United States Patent O 3,418,020 WAREHOLDER John G. Brubaker, Park Forest, Ill., assignor to Brockway Glass Company, Inc., Brockway, Pa. Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,537 4 Claims. (Cl. 294-93) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for lifting and supporting bottles during manufacture and treatment thereof, consisting of an elongated brush having radiating bristles which are compressed or crushed when inserted in the upper end of a bottle to thereby engage the bottle for lifting purposes. An openended cylindrical cap is connected to the upper end of the brush and fits over the upper end portion of the bottle to center the same.

This invention relates to a novel device for supporting and lifting articles and is particularly -directed to a holding means for lifting open-month containers, such as glass bottles and jars, during the transport and handling thereof through the various stages of manufacture and treatment and especially during coating processes using electrostatic sprayin g methods.

Heretofore, various gripping devices have been utilized for supporting and moving open-mouth glass containers through the various stages of handling following actual formation thereof by internally or externally gripping the containers. These methods have been unsatisfactory. In the case of the external grip the finish of the container may be scratched or otherwise marred and where the container is being spray-painted or externally decorated such external grip becomes unwieldly and gets in the way of the machines performing the painting or decorating operation.

In the case of the internal grip, while atfording many advantages over the external grip, it has drawbacks similar to those of the external grip in the form of scratching or other vdamage to the internal neck portion of the glass containers. Like the external grip, the internal grip does not preclnde paint or other decorative material from being applied inadvertently to the interior of the container.

Further, and very importantly, when coating a bottle or jar by electrostatic spraying methods, difliculties have arisen in obtaining a circurnferentially uniform coating around the bottle while simultaneously holding the bottle or jar so that the entire surface of the body of the jar is coated.

Still further, it is well known that newly manufactured glass is particularly susceptible to damage by abrasion or scratching of the glass surface and such abrasion or scratches establish weaknesscs which lead to fracture. Prior bottle or jar gripping and supporting devices have not provided sufficient safeguards 'against such abrasion and scratchin-g.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid the aforementioned defects and difliculties and to provide an article supporting means or wareholder W'hich will carry the article through the processes of manufacture subsequent to formation of the article without marring, scratching or chipping the finish of the article while at the same time faciltating the application of decorative material and the like.

While in no way limited thereto, the present invention is particularly adaptable to open-month containers having 'a so-called sprinkler finish, that is containers having very narrow diameter neck portions. In such cases internally engaging wareholders of known forms have not been adaptable due to the small opening in the finish of the container. 'Ihe invention, while peculiarly adaptable to ICC narrow-month containers, is not exclusively adapted to such small containers and may be used with large-month containers also.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the outside lip and threads of the finish from being coated by paint or other material. In particular, the present invention, when used in conjunction with electrostatic sprayiug, provides an insulating and electrically shielding cap covering the outside lip and threads of the finish, thus deterring the electrostatic deposition of paint around the neck portion of the bottle or jar.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide holding means for the container which centers the container automatically and accurately with respect to the axis of the holder, thus preventing wobbling of the bottle and off-center displacement thereof as it is being rotated for spray painting and facilitating accurate placement thereof by the wareholder, such as in transfer to a conveyor or to mechanisms for inspection, decorating or the like.

Speaking generally, the wareholder of the present invention comprises an elongate central rigid support member having radiating resiliently deformable bristle-like projections along its length, the support members and the bristle-like projections being of electrically conductive material. The resilient radiating bristle construction of the holder of the present invention produces a novel bottle holding and centering result since, even though an inside diameter 'of the neck of the bottle may vary along its axis, usually becoming larger toward the body of the bottle, the resiliently expansive effect of the compressed bristles produces a novel and very effective frictional holding action against the wall of the bottle opening throughout a substantial distance along the axis of such openin-g.

A still further object of the invention is to allow for easy removability of the container from the container or article support means.

The present invention provides an electrically conductive path from the glass bottle to ground through the article support means thus facilitating spray painting of the article using electrostatic spraying methods.

With the foregoing objects in mind, representative embodiments of the invention will be described, although other forms may 'be utilized without departing from the scope of the invention, with particular reference to the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in cross section showing the article support means in position to engage a bottle for performing its holding and centering and electrical contact functions;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view in partly cross section showing the article support means engaged in the opening of such bottle; and

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the bristle arrangement of the holding element.

Referring now to FIG. l, the article support or wareholder is generally designated by reference character 1 and the neck of the container to be supported is denoted by reference numeral 2. The article support comprises a threaded pendant support rod 3 having a sleeve 4 threaded thereon. A brush designated generally by the reference numeral 5 is connected at one end to rod 3 by any suitable means and is threaded thereinto in the present embodiment.

Brush 5 extends downwardly and comprises a shaftlike member 6 having elastically deforma'ble bristles 7 extending substantially radially therefrom.

The bristles may be attached to the holder 6 in any desired manner. In the present instance the holder 6 is of twisted Wire with the bristles held between the convolutions of the wire. This construction is well known in the art of making conventional brushes. While the preferred embodiment provides that the bristles extend radially outwardly from the shaft-like member, it is within the scope of the invention to angle the bristles upwardly or downwardly from the shaft-like 'member in order to provide a greater or lesser holding force, as may be desired.

The bristles 7, the shaft-like member 6 and the rod 3 are formed from electrically conductive materials providing an electrically conductive path from the container to ground through the machines or conveyor mechanisms which are adapted to use the present article supports. The plurality of electrically conductive brush bristles serves to provide a multiplicity of conductive paths from the inside of the container to ground. This is particularly useful in spray painting the containers by electrostatic methods.

Furthermore, the bristles 7 are spaced radially and uniformly from the member 6, in the preferred emhodiment. The uniformity of the spacing and the multiplicity of contact points provided by the bristles provide for excellent contact between the brush and bottle for the deposit of a -uniform electrical charge internally of the finish at all perimetrical portions thereof. This, in turn, provides for a uniform distribution of the electric charge internally of the bottle at all circumferential portions thereof. Such uniform distribution avoids unsymmetrical or non-uniform application of the paint and provides for a uniform coating thickness about the outer surface of the bottle.

The brush may take the form of a cylinder as shown in FIG. 2 or may =be conically shaped as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, other external contours of the bristle surface may be employed to suit various purposes. In the cylindrical form of FIG. 2, the bristles collectively present a uniform diameter at each successive cross-section as the 'brush enters said neck. In FIG. 3 the bristles present an increasing diameter as the successive cross sections enter the neck of the container. In FIG. 3, bristles 8 are formed on a shaft-like member 10 and increase in length upwardly along the holder 10. The bristles and member 10 of FIG. 3 are also formed of electrically conductive material.

Threaded to the end of rod 3 is an inverted cup-shaped member 12, which extends downwardly, surrounding at least a portion of brush 5. The neck 2 of the container is receivable within member or cap 12. Cap 12 as well as sleeve 4 are preferably formed of a lmaterial such as Tefion in order to withstand temperatures such as are used in finishing ceramic decorations and in order to provide an insulator surrounding the external threads and top of the container. This insulation retards the deposition of paint in region of the neck of the container during electrostatic spraying.

In use, the article support is projected into the neck of the container as readily seen in FIG. 2, automatically as an incident to machine operation or manually by placement of a bottle thereon. The neck of the container fits into the cup-shaped member 12. Brush 5 extends internally through the neck of the container, 'bending the elastically deformable lbristles as they pass through the neck. Since the 'bristles have a larger diameter than the internal diameter of the neck of the container, the bristles will tend to elastically return to their original shape, thus providing a lifting engagement as they contact and engage under the internal sides of the neck. The radially 6 outward urge of the compressed bristles, acting in all directions from the axs of the container, exerts an ideal centering force whereby the container is held in a coaxial position with respect to the holder.

The cup-shaped member 12 which fits over the neck of the container not only operates as a guide means tending to center the container and prevent wobble but protects the outside lip and the external threads of the neck of the container from being spray painted or otherwise damaged.

It is apparent that the size of the cavity of the cap and the size of the brush may be of any suitable size and shape to adapt the invention to containers of various sizes and shapes. It is to be understood that various modifications in form and construction may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a system for lifting and supporting bottles during manufacture and treatment thereof, in combination:

a bottle having an annular neck provided with external threads, having a substantially flat, annular upper surface, a predetermined inner diameter, and a predetermined height,

a Vertical support rod for lifting said bottle,

an inverted cup-shaped member secured to the lower end of said support rod, said member having a downwardly facing, substantially flat annular surface seating upon said upper surface of the bottle neck, and depending skirt of a length substantially equal to said predetermined height of the bottle neck and enelosing said neck in close adjacency to said external threads thereof whereby to mask said neck and center and align said bottle with said support rod,

an elongated shaft member secured to said cup-shaped member and projecting therefrom axially within said skirt, said shaft member being of smaller diameter than said predetermined inner diameter of said neck and of a length to extend below said skirt,

and bristle members secured along the length of and circumferentially of said shaft member, said bristle members projecting radially from said shaft member to define a brush-like plug having a diameter greater than said predetermined inner diameter of said neck, said bristle members being elastically deformable and grippingly engaging the inner surface of said neck in Cooperation with said aligning and centering engagement between said cup-shaped member and the bottle neck to support said bottle when said support rod is lifted.

2. In the system according to claim 1 wherein said brush-like plug is of cylindrical configuration.

3. A bottle lifter according to claim 1, wherein said brush including the associated bristles and shaft-like member are of electrically conductive material.

4. In the system according to claim 1 wherein said brush-like plug is of frusto-conical configuration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,662,833 12/1953 Helmuth 118-635 X 2,990,834 7/1961 Amen 15-521 X 3,209,388 10/1965 Kambersky 15-521 3,314,714 4/1967 Brubaker 294 93 FOREIGN PATENTS 909,734 10/ 1962 Great Britain.

ROBERT C. RIORDAN, Primary Examz'ner. O JAMES F. McKEOWN, Asssant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

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