Elpatronic Ag

Felix Kramer

Paul Opprecht

Othmar Stieger

Hans-Ulrich Bogatzki

Gunther Westerhold

Anton Becker

On a turret (30) which can be driven in rotation about a central axis (A), a plurality of expanding mandrels (42) are arranged all around the central axis (A). They are each essentially composed of a supporting member (44) which is secured to the turret (30) and defines an expanding-mandrel axis (B), a plurality of segmental bars (52) which are arranged all round the expanding-mandrel axis (B) and are guided on the supporting member (44) for radial adjustment, and a wedge (70) which is displaceable along the expanding-mandrel axis (B) to spread the segmental bars (52) apart. The wedges (70) are displaceable in succession, by a common actuating member, during one revolution of the turret (30). The actuating member is a central cam member (18) on which each of the wedges (70) is supported at least during a portion of each revolution of the turret (30) corresponding to the distance between two adjacent expanding mandrels (52).

Apparatus for altering the cross-sectional shape of can bodies

An intermittent or stepping drive has a first rotatable member (20), which is driven by a driving shaft (12), in engaging relationship with a second rotatable member (30) from which a driven shaft (22) is driven whereby a continuous rotation of the first rotatable member (20) is converted into an intermittent rotation of the second rotatable member (30). One of the two rotatable members (20,30) is connected to the associated shaft (12,22) by a clutch (40) which is associated with a retaining member (50) that exerts thereon a retaining force (E) acting in an engagement sense. One of the shafts (12,22) is associated with a control device (60) which controls the retaining force (E) depending upon the angular position of rotation of the shaft. The control is suitable for the actual applications of the stepping drive of the type in which the clutch in each drive phase transmits a moment that is just as large as the sum of the acceleration moment, the useful moment and the friction moment, which occur in the respective driving phases when the drive is not disturbed. If this sum should be exceeded by a disturbing moment, the clutch permits a relative rotation of the rotatable member in question with respect to the associated shaft as well as when the disturbing moment is small in relation to said sum of the moments.

Stepping drive

An inspection machine for plastic bottles has a turn table rotatable about a vertical axis, and a plurality of inspection stations to receive the bottles to be inspected. Output signals from sensors are fed to evaluation electronics provided on the turntable itself. Each station has a plate on which a bottle can be rotated as a result of rotation of the turntable. During inspection each bottle executes an orbital movement about the vertical axis of the turntable and at the same time a rotation about the axis of bottle itself as a result of which each bottle is inspected more than once for perpendicularity of the bottom of the bottle and its neck as well. Volume and pressure tightness as well as height of the bottle and bottle color are also inspected.

Inspection machine for plastic bottles

Disposed between magnetic rollers (32) which can be driven in rotation for conveying metal sheets (10) suspended from them and leave gaps (40) free between them, are pushers (44). The pushers (44) can be moved out of a retracted upper position in which they leave the sheets (10) freely suspended on the magnetic rollers (32) into a lower position in which they hold the sheets (10) at a distance below the magnetic rollers (32). The movement of the sheets (10) in the conveying direction (18) of the magnetic rollers (32) is limited by a stop (72). In the lower position, in which they have pushed a sheet (10) off the magnetic rollers (32), the pushers (44) are movable, with the sheet (10), transversely to the conveying direction (18) of the magnetic rollers (32). Disposed laterally beside the magnetic rollers (32) is a withdrawal device (76) which conveys onwards the sheets (10) that have been moved away from the magnetic rollers (32) by the pushers (44). The undersides of the sheets (10) are not touched on the way to the withdrawal device (76) and are consequently protected from damage.

Conveying device for metal sheets, particularly on a can welding machine

For welding tongues (12) onto sheet-metal parts (10), particularly tear-open can parts, a welding machine having at least one pair of welding electrodes (62, 63) is provided. The sheet-metal parts (10) can be moved through the machine steps between the welding electrodes (62, 63), one behind the other, by a sheet-metal conveyor (15) and be located in a defined position by a positioning device (17). The tongues (12) can each be placed against a sheet-metal part (10) between the welding electrodes (62, 63) in synchronism with the working cycle of the sheet-metal conveyor (15) by a tongue conveyor (18).

Welding machine for welding tongues onto sheet-metal parts

Sheet-metal members (10), particularly tear-open can members, can be moved rhythmically, one behind the other, through a welding station (19) by a sheet-metal conveyor (15) and located in a defined position (17) in the welding station (19) by a positioning device (17). A prestamped tongue (12) can be punched-off from a sheet-metal strip (58) each time by a punch (60) over one of a plurality of receivers (52) on a tongue conveyor (18). The receivers (52) can be moved in succession out of the range of action of the punch (60) into the welding station (19) as a result of which the tongues (12) can each be laid against a sheet-metal member (10) in the welding station (19) in time with the sheet-metal conveyor (15). The punch (60) for punching off the tongues (12) is preceded by a prestamping device (82) which impresses markings (84) in the sheet-metal strip (58) at fixed distances from the tongues (12). Disposed between the prestamping device (82) and the punch (60) is a drive member (83) which engages the markings (84) in the sheet-metal strip (58) and is connected to the tongue conveyor (18) by a transmission (86). The punch (60) is connected to a centering device (90) which engages in at least one marking (84) adjacent to it in the sheet-metal strip (58), during the punching off of a tongue (12). In this manner, the tongues (12) are each particularly accurately positioned in relation to the associated sheet-metal member (10).

Welding machine for welding tongues onto sheet-metal members

One column (16) of each of two pairs of columns (14,16) on which mutually remote edges of the sheet-metal members 12 are guided, has a resiliently flexible strip to exert a resilient pressure on the associated edges of the sheet-metal members (12) stacked between this column (16) and a rigid column (14) situated opposite. The strip is divided into a plurality of pressure members (10) which are disposed one below the other and are individually resiliently supported. As a result, the sheet-metal members (12) are kept snugly against the opposite rigid columns (14) and so precisely positioned ready for destacking; at the same time, however, individual sheet-metal members (12) are prevented from being loaded with excessively great spring forces.

Magazine for stacking sheet-metal members

The can member (10) is provided with a pair of scorings (16) which define a tear-off strip (18) laterally. A tongue (20) produced as a separate sheet-metal member is welded onto the tear-off strip (18) in a welding region (42) at one of its ends. Between the welding region (42) and the free end (32) of the tongue (20), a starting scoring (30) extends over the tear-off strip (18). The starting scoring (30) extends substantially transversely to the lateral scorings (16) only in a central region of the tear-off strip (18) and extends away from the free end (32) of the tongue (20) in the vicinity of the two lateral scorings (16). The welding region (42) covers the starting scoring (30) in the vicinity of each of the two lateral scorings (16). As a result, care is taken to ensure that a tearing open operation can be reliably initiated by rolling up the tongue, substantially regardless of inaccuracies in manufacture.

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Friedlisberg, Switzerland

Felix Kramer