The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 06, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 01, 2001
Stephen M. Gerber, Petersburg, MI (US);
George A. Nickey, Maumee, OH (US);
Noel D. Wendt, Toledo, OH (US);
Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc., Toledo, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for inspecting non-round containers includes a pair of carriages coupled to associated motors for rotation independently of each other on a common axis. Each carriage carries a corresponding plurality of semi-circular gripping fingers, which may be moved toward and away from each other by controlled rotation of the carriages. The fingers are widely separated from each other to accept non-round containers at an in-feed station, and to permit removal of the containers at out-feed and reject stations. For transporting the containers between stations, the finger are brought closely together to grip the containers for indexing, and springs on one of the carriages resiliently urge the associated fingers toward the fingers on the opposing carriage for accommodating size variations among the containers. At inspection stations, the fingers are moved slightly away from each other, but remain together so as to define a circular perimeter for capturing the non-round body and confining the body of the container during rotation. The container may be rotated by a drive roller engaged with the cylindrical container finish. The container finish can be inspected, as can portions of the sidewall, base and heel.