The case of the bobbling bottle
The milkman called–and not about deliveries, either. He had a problem and needed me there yesterday. I grabbed my hat and was out the door.
“KC,” Billy told me at the dairy, “we have a random problem with the capper. Everything seems fine, but we get frequent problems with misaligned caps. It happens randomly and we are at wit’s end.”
“Fiddlesticks on ‘random problems,’ Billy!” I exclaimed. “In my experience, there is no such thing. Every problem has a cause. Finding it can be hard; fixing it is often fairly simple. Let me get these eyeballs on the machine.”
Legendary outfielder Casey Stengel said you can see a lot just by looking. It’s as true in packaging as it is in baseball–it just takes a while sometimes.
After an hour of observation, a pattern began to emerge. The problem was periodic, not random. A stopwatch and counter revealed that there was usually a multiple of 168 between cocked caps.
It was an older rotary filler/capper with 24 valves and seven capping heads. Could it be a coincidence that 7×24 gives 168? Probably not. Delving deeper showed that most problems came when valve No. 13 aligned with chuck No. 5.
It turned out that there was a damaged tooth on the main bull gear. When aligned just right the bottle would bobble and the cap would cock. Fixing the gear fixed the problem.
Always drink your milk. It will make you grow up strong (and smart) like me.
Virginia commented:
I got this when my daughter statred having solids at 6 months old and she still uses it at 2 1/2 years. I did have to pad the chair with blankets when she was 6 months old to keep her from slumping. At 2 1/2, she is 29 lbs and 34 inches and sits comfortably in it. I can see her using it for a lot longer as a booster chair as well. It is definitely not small as one reviewer mentioned. Of course, all that depends on each child. It is very well made and has been with us on many trips, both domestic and international. My daughter has several allergies so this chair goes everywhere with us. The toy insert keeps younger babies occupied and is cute. The only problem I found with the toy insert was the paper stickers that statred peeling off with continued use and washing. pros: well made, good quality grows with baby (adjustable table and height and chair back can be removed) easy to clean (just wipe chair with clorox wipes, table can be put in dishwasher or easily hand washed) easy to use while holding baby in one hand light and easy to travel with fits on most chairs toy insert keeps baby busy cons: paper stickers peel off with continued washing straps tend to get gunky, especially if you have a very messy baby (think chicken puree everywhere) not a huge problem though since you can just take out the straps and wash them. I let them sit in a cup of vinegar for a while before rinsing them out, takes care of both stains and smells!
Daniel commented:
That is such a wfuedronl interview:) Kisses,sweetiePs: I am hosting a charming scarf GIVEAWAY today, just in time for cozy Christmas!
yuga commented:
Nice
Hondo commented:
Just like Dejavue all over agian!
