Air Operated Plastic Pail Capper

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to capping devices, and more particularly to an air operated plastic pail capper.

2. Description of Prior Art

Capping devices are known in the art and are of various types. While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they will not be as suitable for the particular purpose of the present invention, as will hereinafter be described.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an air operated plastic pail capper that will be of such design, as to eliminate the former necessity of employing rubber mallets to cap plastic pails, and such pails will be capped easier and faster than previously.

Another object of this invention is to provide an air operated plastic pail capper that will be so designed, as to be more efficient and the caps will be sealed 360 degrees, so as to prevent any leakage of the contents.

A further object of this invention is to provide an air operated plastic pail capper that will be simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, and long lasting.

An air operated plastic pail capper comprises an adjustable height base with rollers on the top for support of a plastic pail, and a post attached to the base mounts a pneumatic cylinder with a plate thereon for contact with the pail cover. Palm operated buttons are also provided on the cylinder for activating the device.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the invention.

Accordingly, a pail caper machine 10 is shown to include a base 11 having legs 12 that are adjustable in height from floor 13, as desired. Cross braces 13a are fixedly secured to legs 12 and a top 14 is fixedly secured to the top portion of base 11. A plurality of equally-spaced rollers 15 are mounted in a pair of spaced channels 16 that are fixedly secured to the top portion of base 11, and rollers 15 engage with the bottom of a plastic pail 17 that is capped with a cap 18, the pail 17 and the cap 18, being shown in phantom lines.

A hollow post 19 is provided and is fixedly secured to cross brace 13a and the top 14 of base 11, and a sleeve 20 is received on post 19 and is held in place by set screws 21. A four-way valve 22 is provided on sleeve 22, and a pair of tubes 24 are fixedly secured to the outer periphery of sleeve 24 and are fixedly secured to the rear side of a plate 25 that mounts an air cylinder 26 by fasteners 27. A tubular bar 28 is horizontally secured to the plate 25 above the air cylinder 26, and a pair of palm operated button valves 29 are fixedly secured to ends of bar 28, for the operation of air cylinder 26.

The piston rod 30 of air cylinder 26 is secured to the center of a second plate 31 having a pair of spaced and spring-loaded bolts 32 projecting from an attached second plate 31, the spring-loaded bolts 32 serving to engage with the top of cover 18 of pail 17.

Looking now at FIG. 3, the main air line 33 is coupled to the four-way basic air valve 22 and lines 34 coupled to the palm operated button valves 29 that are of the three-way type. The outputs of valves 209 are also coupled to the basic air valve 22 by lines 35, and lines 37 extend from the valve 22 and are coupled to air cylinder 26.

In operation, the operator uses both hands to push down the palm operated button air valves 29 and this results in energizing the basic air valve 22 that operates the air cylinder 26. When the above occurs, the steel plate 31 moves downward closing the cover 18 onto the pail 17 locking it closed. During the above closing, the spring-loaded bolts 32 push down the center of the cover 18 and removes any air that may be trapped before the cover 18 is completely sealed.

To de-energize machine 10, both palm operated valves 29 must be released together. This causes the plate 31 to return to the normally upward position or starting position.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, such details will be within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.