Claims
- 1. Apparatus for applying sleeves to containers comprising:
- means for moving an elongated web of flexible sheet-like material in a longitudinal direction,
- means engaging said moving web for carrying it in a feed path defined by an endless surface, said means including a vacuum means connected to said endless surface for holding the web thereon,
- rotary knife means cooperating with the endless web-carrying surface for cutting the web thereon across its width and severing a sleeve blank from the web,
- a turret rotatably supported on a vertical shaft,
- a plural mandrel means in circular array on said turret, each mandrel means having an annular mandrel surface rotatable about an axis parallel with said shaft and movable in an orbit that is tangent with the feed path of said carrying means thereat engageable with the leading portion of a sleeve blank, said mandrel means including a vacuum means for holding said engaged leading portion on its annular surface, the peripheral dimension of said annular surface being less than the length of the sleeve blank,
- means connected to said rotatable mandrels operable for winding said sleeve blank thereon,
- heater means individual to each mandrel means comprising an elongated air nozzel connected to a source of heated air and operable in response to wrapping the sleeve blank on the mandrel surface for blowing hot air onto the overlapping surfaces of the leading and trailing end portions of the sleeve blank on the mandrel, said heated end portions heat sealing one to the other on the mandrel in seam fashion, thereby forming a hollow sleeve,
- pocketed wheel means connected on the turret in coaxial relation to the mandrels and rotatable about said shaft, said wheel means including plural container receiving pockets corresponding to the mandrels and in vertical registry therewith,
- guide means for engaging the containers and inserting them in said pockets of the wheel means with the axis of the containers disposed vertically and with the axial end thereof adjacent the mandrel in substantial axial registry therewith, said guide means retaining the containers in said pockets for partial orbital movement with the mandrels, and
- stripper means individual to each mandrel and operable for axially vertically downwardly stripping the hollow sleeve from the mandrel and telescopically encircling the said container.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 526,124 filed Nov. 22, 1974.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
2223017 |
Abrams et al. |
Nov 1940 |
|
2790285 |
Pike et al. |
Apr 1957 |
|
3764425 |
Neff et al. |
Oct 1973 |
|
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
526124 |
Nov 1974 |
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