Katherine S Allen

US Patent:

8381561, Feb 26, 2013

Filed:

Oct 12, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/577303

Inventors:

Alejandro Jose Santamaria - Suwanee GA, US
Katherine W. Allen - Newnan GA, US
John E. Adams - Alpharetta GA, US
Scott C. Biondich - Alpharetta GA, US
Ruth Karina Espinel - Norcross GA, US
Gopalaswamy Rajesh - Alpharetta GA, US
H. Brock Kolls - Alpharetta GA, US

Assignee:

The Coca-Cola Company - Atlanta GA

International Classification:

B21D 51/26

US Classification:

72 94, 7240503

Abstract:

An embodiment of the present invention is a vessel forming production line comprising a plurality of vessel forming stations having at least one of an operation wheel, at least one of a conveyor, and a controller, the conveyor indexes a vessel across the operation wheel, the controller coordinates movement and operation of the operation wheel and the conveyor, a second conveyor transfers the vessel between the plurality of vessel forming stations, and a plurality of cylinder feeders feed the vessel into at least one of a pathway through the plurality of vessel forming stations, wherein the plurality of vessel forming stations are organized into a scalable matrix configuration allowing a plurality of different shaped vessels to be manufactured simultaneously. Other embodiments include a plurality of linear drives configured to cause opposing pairs of operation wheels to engage the vessel and perform operations on the vessel.