Carson Burger Weekly, Inc.

Gary A Barnhart

David E Carson

Gerald L Criss

A machine for orienting and stacking receptacles, such as cups having a base end and a mouth end, which machine includes a receiving area wherein the cups are initially received and are then fed to an upright, angularly disposed conveyor, the cups being received between bars presented by the conveyor. As the cups are moved upwardly by the conveyor, they come into engagement with an angularly disposed orienting roller which spans the width of the conveyor and contacts the cups to shift them into a common, oriented relationship with the mouths all facing in one direction and the bases in another. After orientation, the cups pass over the top of the conveyor and are removed therefrom and carried to a delivery location. The removal of the cups from the conveyor is accomplished by a vacuum which is drawn adjacent the top end of the conveyor. At the delivery location there is provided a pair of spinning rolls which rotate in the same direction at different speeds and which serve to draw the cups, in their aligned, oriented relationship, therealong and into a final, stacked relationship whereby they may be removed from the machine for subsequent handling or packaging.

Machine for orienting and stacking receptacles

A machine for feeding injection molded plastic lids from a gathering area to which they have been delivered in either scrambled or stacked relationship to a delivery point where the lids are oriented for subsequent delivery to a lid stacking machine or to a point of use. The lid feeding machine comprises a first driven belt in a generally horizontal plane but slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal on its longitudinal axis and a second driven belt in a generally vertical plane but also slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal on its longitudinal axis, the belts being juxtaposed in approximately 90.degree. angular relationship on their transverse axes, whereby when lids are delivered to the gathering area, which is at one end of the first belt, they are moved, by the first belt, toward the second belt and are then engaged by the second belt to insure separation and vertical orientation thereof and, as engaged by the second belt, are driven along a lid feed path toward a point of delivery which is at the other end of the first and second belts. The normally lowermost end of the longitudinal axis of the first belt defines the gathering area and the uppermost end of the longitudinal axis of the second belt is adjacent the gathering area. The belts span the distance between the gathering area and the point of delivery, with the uppermost, other end of the first belt being at the delivery area and the lowermost, other end of the second belt being adjacent the delivery area.

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Lawrence, KS, United States of America

Gary A Barnhart