Cmb Foodcan Plc

Cmb Packaging (uk) Limited

Andrew J Boyd

Anthony D Corton

Stephen Robert Arnell

Perry A Goodwin

John P Bilko

Andrea M Webster

An apparatus for reshaping a container includes a mold of the split type. The container has a body member, a closed lower end member and a cone-shaped open upper end member. The mold has a pair of upper clamping members and a lower clamping member which slide along a liner. The upper clamping members and a seal for closing the container act on the double seam between the upper end member and the body member, thus ensuring that the upper end member and the double seam do not deform during reshaping. The seam between the lower end member and the body member is gripped between the lower clamping member and a support member. During reshaping, compressed air is supplied to the interior of the container, causing it to expand outwardly while the clamping members move inwardly.

Apparatus and method for reshaping containers

A seam weld machine includes a voltage monitoring circuit (9) for determining weld quality. The voltage is sensed by two pick-ups. A first pick-up is in the form of a conductive rider (10), mounted to directly sense the voltage from a weld wire (4). The wire (8) from the second pick-up is short and is fed through a gap in the z-bar (6) of the machine to emerge close to the wire from the first pick-up, thus reducing electromagnetic interference and noise.

Monitoring weld voltage

Apparatus for welding longitudinal seams in can bodies includes upper and lower electrode wheels mounted on arms, a transducer for detecting vertical displacement of the upper wheel, a pair of pick-ups for detecting the rotational positions of the wheels, and a single processing circuit. The transducer output is divided into a set of traces, each corresponding to a single wheel rotation. The traces are averaged to produce a representation of the wheel profile. Each wheel profile is subtracted from the transducer output to produce a good indication of weld thickness. Alternatively, the transducer output is divided into a series of traces, each of which represents the vertical displacement of the upper wheel while welding a single can body. These are averaged to provide a good indication of weld thickness. The wheels have surface irregularities and each is inevitably mounted with some degree of eccentricity. Unwanted transducer output components due to these irregularities and eccentricities are removed.

Resistance welding apparatus

Apparatus for resistance welding an elongate seam in a tubular article, comprises a first electrode wheel outside the article, a second electrode inside the article and a continuous electrode wire arranged to pass over the electrodes to provide surfaces of contact between the electrodes and seam material. The second electrode has a stationary block having a guide surface of like curvature to that of the outer electrode wheel so that the contact arcs of wire passing over the guide surface with the seam material is substantially equal to the contact area of wire passing over the external wheel. The use of this stationary inner electrode improves the weld of geometry and permits welding of can bodies of relatively smaller diameter without use of mercury contact bearings.

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Wantage, United Kingdom

Andrew J Boyd