Bucket lidding system for continuously conveying buckets

摘要

A bucket lidding system for placing rotationally oriented lids on unlidded buckets being conveyed on a conveyor and subsequently seating the lids onto the buckets. A lid conveyer introduces to the system a vertical stack of bucket lids wherein each lid has a fitting. After the entire stack of bucket lids is raised such that a top lid of the stack is positioned at a selected height, a mechanism lifts and holds the top lid and transports that lid to a position over another conveyer where a lidless bucket is being conveyed. During this lid transportation, the held lid is being rotated under a fitting sensing sensor, which instructs the lid rotation to be stopped when the lid has a desired rotational orientation with respect to the lidless bucket. When a sensor senses the bucket on the bucket conveyer means, the oriented lid is released and drops a short distance onto the bucket. The bucket with the unseated lid then continues on the conveyor in the system and passes beneath a lid press plate, which is driven downward to thereby seat the lid on the bucket. The press plate is designed to move along the conveyer at a speed approximately equal to the bucket speed such that during lid seating the bucket need not be stopped.