CA1201415A - Label separator utilizing flexible element - Google Patents
Label separator utilizing flexible elementInfo
- Publication number
- CA1201415A CA1201415A CA000435198A CA435198A CA1201415A CA 1201415 A CA1201415 A CA 1201415A CA 000435198 A CA000435198 A CA 000435198A CA 435198 A CA435198 A CA 435198A CA 1201415 A CA1201415 A CA 1201415A
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- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- label
- carriage
- path
- receiver
- receivers
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Abstract
LABEL SEPARATOR UTILIZING FLEXIBLE ELEMENT
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A label applicator comprising a supporting structure and at least two label receivers mounted on the supporting structure for relative movement between a label receiving position and a label applying posi-tion. Labels are supplied to each of the label receiv-ers in the label receiving position. The label receiv-ers retain the labels and transport them to a label ap-plying position where they are applied to articles to be labeled. The label receivers are mounted for move-ment toward and away from each other on a carriage, and the carriage is also mounted for movement. Flexible elements are coupled to each of the label receivers so that the label receivers are pulled apart by the flexi-ble elements as the carriage moves toward the label applying position.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A label applicator comprising a supporting structure and at least two label receivers mounted on the supporting structure for relative movement between a label receiving position and a label applying posi-tion. Labels are supplied to each of the label receiv-ers in the label receiving position. The label receiv-ers retain the labels and transport them to a label ap-plying position where they are applied to articles to be labeled. The label receivers are mounted for move-ment toward and away from each other on a carriage, and the carriage is also mounted for movement. Flexible elements are coupled to each of the label receivers so that the label receivers are pulled apart by the flexi-ble elements as the carriage moves toward the label applying position.
Description
4~lS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are instances in which it is desirable to label articles which are arranged in side-by-side rela-tionship on a conveyor or in which it is desirable to apply two labels at spaced locations to the same article.
For example, some packaging equipment provides an output which includes side-by-side packages.
Crankshaw et al U.S. Patent No. 4,210,484 discloses one way of labeling multiple side-by-side articles utilizing a single label applicator. This is accomplished by using labels which are provided in a plurality of continguous rows extending longitudinally on a backing strip or web. The Crankshaw et al label applicator removes the side-by-side labels from the web at a label receiving station, separates the labels, transports the labels to the label applying station, and transfers the labels to the articles. This is accomplished by dispensing the labels onto movable label receivers and separating the label receivers as they move to the label applying station.
S~MMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is an improvement on the label applicator disclosed in the crankshaw et al patent. As ~ ~;.'f~,~, J .
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1 .xplained more fully hereinbelow, this invention pro-
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are instances in which it is desirable to label articles which are arranged in side-by-side rela-tionship on a conveyor or in which it is desirable to apply two labels at spaced locations to the same article.
For example, some packaging equipment provides an output which includes side-by-side packages.
Crankshaw et al U.S. Patent No. 4,210,484 discloses one way of labeling multiple side-by-side articles utilizing a single label applicator. This is accomplished by using labels which are provided in a plurality of continguous rows extending longitudinally on a backing strip or web. The Crankshaw et al label applicator removes the side-by-side labels from the web at a label receiving station, separates the labels, transports the labels to the label applying station, and transfers the labels to the articles. This is accomplished by dispensing the labels onto movable label receivers and separating the label receivers as they move to the label applying station.
S~MMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is an improvement on the label applicator disclosed in the crankshaw et al patent. As ~ ~;.'f~,~, J .
~Z014ilS
1 .xplained more fully hereinbelow, this invention pro-
2 vides a simple, reliable and efficient way of spread-
3 ing label receivers, and therefore, spreading the la-
4 bels carried by such label receivers. Although the in-vention is described with particular reference to the 6 spreading of label receivers, more broadly, the inven-7 tion relates to imparting controlled movement in a 8 novel way to one or more label receivers to thereby g control the position of the label receiver, and this may be ~sed for label spreading or other purposes.
11 A label applicator constructed in accordance 12 with this invention may include a supporting structure, 13 a label dispenser on the supporting structure for dis-14 pensing at least one label at a label dispensing sta-tion, a label receiver for receiving the label at the 16 label dispensing station and means for mounting the la-17 bel receiver for movement from the label dispensing sta-18 tion to a label applying station at which the label is 19 transferred from the label receiver to an article. The mounting means preferably includes a carriage mounted on 21 the supporting structure for movement along a first path 22 relative to the supporting structure and means for mount-23 ing the label receiver on the carriage for movement rela-24 tive to the carriage along a second path. The two paths extend in different directions.
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1 A feature of ~ is invention is the use of flexi-2 ~le ~eans drivingly coupled to the label receiver and re-3 sponsive to movement of the carriage in at least one dir-4 ection along the first path for moving the label receiver in a first direction along the second path whereby the la-6 bel receiver is moved to at least one of the stations.
7 The flexible means can be used to move the label receiver 8 to either or both of the label applylng and label dispens-9 ing stations; however, it is preferred to use the flexible means to move the label receiver to the label applying 11 station and to use other means, such as a return spring, to 12 move the label receiver back to the label receiving 13 station.
14 More specifically, the carriage can advantageous-ly be reciprocated along the first path by a suitable mo-16 tor, such as an air cylinder. The flexible means is pref-17 erably drivingly coupled to the lahel receiver and retain-18 ed against bodily movement, i.e., movement of the entire 19 flexible means, during at least a portion of the time the label receiver is moved toward the label applying station.
21 As the carriage moves away from the retained region of ~he 22 flexible means, the flexible means pulls the label receiv-23 er along the second path on the calr age. This can be ad-24 vantageously implemented by a roller rotatably mounted at one end of the carriage over which the flexible means ex-26 tends thereby permitting the flexible means to pull or 27 drive the label receiver along the second pathO
12019~1S
1 To positively locate the Dosition of the la-2 bel receiver along the second path, and therefore, as-3 sist in accurately locating the label receiver at the 4 label applying station, a stop is provided, and the stop is preferably mounted on the carriage. The stop 6 is adjustable to permi~ the label applicator to be 7 adapted for different labeling re~uirements. To pre-8 vent the stop from breaking or excessively stressing 9 the flexible means or other portions of the lab~l appli-cator, the flexible means preferably includes extendible 11 means responsive to the movement of the label applica~or 12 along the second path being arrested bv the stop and ad-13 ditional movement of ~le carriage along its path for ex-14 tending to thereby permit such additional movement of lS the carriage to occur.
16 The label applicator also includes adjustable 17 means for varying the effective length of the flexible 18 means to permit the label applicator to be adapted for 19 different labeling reauirements. Although the adjustable means may take different forms, in a preferred construc-21 tion, it includes a mechanism for controlling the posi-22 tion of the end of the flexible means remote from the la-23 bel receiver.
24 The concepts described above are applicable to 2S the movement of one or more label receivers. In one 2S preferred embodiment, the label applicator of this 120~4iS
1 invention is used for label spreading purposes and, 2 thus, includes at laast two of the label receivers. All 3 of the label receivers are preferably mounted on the carriage 4 for movement with the carriage. However, not all of the label applicators need to be movable along the second path 6 on the carriage so long as the necessarv relative movement ~ is accomplished. For example, if two label receivers are 8 used, the labels can be spread by moving only one of the 9 label receivers along the carriage, although it may be desirable for other reasons to move both of the label 11 receivers.
12 According to a second preferred embodiment, the 13 flexible means is used to move the label ~eceiver in both ~4 direc~ions along the second path on the carriage. In this event, the spring can, if desired, be eliminated.
16 This has the advantage o~ moving the label receivers more 17 positively than a spring.
18 So that the elongated flexible means can move 19 the label receiver in both directions, it preferably in-cludes first and second elongated flexible elements 21 drivin~ly coupled to the label receiver and to the support-22 ing structure. The first and second elongated flexible 23 elements can be sections of the same flexible element or 2~ they may be separate elements. The first flexible element pulls the label receiver in one direction and the second 26 flexible element pulls the label receiver in the other 27 direction.
12014~S
1 Means i~ provided to enable the second flexible 2 element to accommodate the motion imparted to the label 3 receiver bv the first flexible element. In a preferred 4 construction, such means includes a movable member movable with the carriage along the first path and a guide on the 6 movable member. The second elongated flexible element 7 extends from the label receiver along the guide and is 8 drivingly coupled to the supporting structure. The second 9 flexible element is formed into a double length by pass-ing over the guide, and this allows it to accommodate the move-11 ment imparted to the label receiver by the first flexible element.
12 In both preferred forms of the invention, the 13 flexible means and the guide means for the flexible means 14 are extremely simple, inexpensive and easy to assemble, and the guide means for guiding the elongated flex-16 ible means from the label receiver to the fixed support 17 moves as a unit with the carriage. Th~ guide means can 18 advantageously comprise a plurality of rollers, the axes 19 of rotation of which do not move significantly with re-spect to each other thereby providing a simple, inexpensive 21 system. Additional simplicity is provided by reciprocating 22 the carriage, and this can be advantageously implemented 23 by a simple guide rod mounting system and a cylinder-type 24 motor.
The invention, toqether with additional features 26 and advantages thereof, may best be understood by refer-27 ence to the following description taken in connection 28 with the accompanying illustrative drawing.
lÆ014iS
2 - _ 3 Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of a portion 4 of a label applicator constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The label receivers are 6 shown in full lines at the label dispensing station and 7 in phantom lines at the label applying statl~n.
8 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken 9 generally along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with portions of the label receiver being shown in cross section.
11 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view 12 taken generally along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.
13 Fig. 4 is a fragmentarv plan view illustrat-14 ing a label strip of the type which is adapted for use with the label applicator of this invention.
16 Figs. 5 and 6 are front elevationa' views o~
17 a second preferred form of label applicator constructed 18 in accordance with the teachings o~ this invention. ~igs.
19 S and 6 show the label receivers at the label receiving stakion and the label applying station, respectively.
24 Figs. 1-3 show a label applicator 11 which gen-erally includes label dispensing means 11 (Fig. 2), label 26 separating means 15, and a supporting structure 17 on 27 which the various components of the label applicator are 28 mounted. The label applicator 11 is particularly adapted 29 ~or use with a label strip 19 (Fig~ 4) which includes a ~0 3~
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1 web or backing strip 21 of a suitable release ~aper and 2 pressure sensitive adhesive labels 23 releasably adhered 3 to one side of the backing strip. The backing strip 21 is 4 elongated, and the labels 23 are provided in multiole, parallel rows which extend longitudinally of the backing 6 strip. The rows of labels 23 may be contiguous or verv 7 narrowly spaced so that the width of the backing strip 21 is just sufficient to accommodate the side-by-side rows of the 9 labels 23. In the form sho~n in Fig. 4, three rows of the labels 23 are provided. Of course, any suitable desired number 11 of rows of labels 23 may be provided on the backing strip 21.
12 The label dispensing means 13 may be of any suit-13 able construction which will remove the labels 23 from the 14 backing strip 21 and provide them to the label separating means 15. Label dispensing means of this type is known and 16 one such label dispensing means i9 disclosed in common 17 assignee's U.S. Patent 4,046,613.
18 The label dispensing means 13 includes a peeler 19 bar 25 suitably mounted on the supporting structure 17.
The peeler bar 25 has a peeling edge 27 over which the 21 label strip 19 extends. The label dispensing means 13 in-22 cludes conventional controls 29 which se~uentially move the 23 label strip 19 in a well-known manner over the peeling 24 edge 27 to sequentially remove the labels 23. With each indexing movement of the label strip 19, one label 23 from 26 each of the three rows of labels shown in Fig. 4 is removed 27 from the backing strip 21 in a direction transverse ~o the 28 peeling edge 27 and in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2.
29 The label separating means 15 includes two identi-cal, movable label receivers 31 and 31a and an intermediate 32 _~_ ~20~1S
1 label receiver 33 which is substantially identical to the 2 movable label receivers. The label receivers 31, 31a and 33 3 receive the removed labels from the three rows of labels, 4 respectively. The use of three label receivers is purel~
illustrative. ~enerally, the number of label receivers 6 should correspond with the number of labels or groups of 7 labels that are to be spread apart. Because the label re-8 ceivers are substantially identical, only the label recei~Jer g 31 is described in detail, and corres~onding portions of the label receivers 31a and 33 are designated by correspondin~
ll reference numerals.
12 The label receiver 31 is much like the conven-13 tional vacuum box used in prior art label applicators in 14 that it includes a cavity 35 (Fig. 2) and an air pervious, ,15 apertured grid 37 for receiving one of the labels 23. The 16 gr,id 37 lies closely adjacent the peeling edge 27 of the l~ peeler bar 25 and at a small angle to the plane of move-18 ment of the labels 23 off of the hacking strip 21 so that it l9 can receive one of the labels 23 as such label is removed from the backing strip 21 by the label dispensing means. The ~1 cavity 35 is evacuated to a suitable subatmospheric pressure 22 via a vacuum passage 39 to releasably retain the removed label Z3 23 against the outer face of the grid 37 in a conventional 24 manner, and an air blast can be provided through an air pressure passage 41 to remove the labels from the grid and transfer them to articles.
2~ In the position shown in full lines in Fig. l, 28 the label receivers 31, 31a and 33 are in abutting rela-29 tionship at a label dispensing station, i.e., the station 31 _9_ lZ019L15 1 at which the label receivers are positioned to receive 2 labels from the label dispensing means 13. The label 3 receiver 33 is sandwiched between the other two label 4 receivers. The label receivers 31 and 31a are mounted for movement to spread the labels 23 generally in the 6 direction of the width dimension of the backing strip 7 21 at the label dlspensing station, i.e., generally in 8 the direction in which the peeling edge 27 extends.
9 Viewed from another perspective, the label receivers 31 and 31a spread the labels 23 in a direction general-11 ly transverse to the direction in which the labels move 12 when they are peeled from the backing strip 21. In ad-13 dition, the label receivers 31, 31a and 33 also move the 14 labels 23 perpendicular to the peeling edge 27, i.e., downwardly as viewed in Fig. 1. This latter movement 16 does not spread the labels but moves them into position 17 for application to articles.
18 To provide for spreading of the labels 23, the 19 label receivers 31 and 31a are mounted on a carriage 43 for relative movement toward and away from the interme~
21 diate label receive~ 33 which, in the embodiment illus-22 trated, is fixedly mounted on the carriage. Although the 23 carriage 43 could be of different constructions, in the 24 embodiment illustrated, it includes a pair of end plates 45 and 47, a pair of parallel guide rods 49 fixed to, and 26 extending between, the end plates 45 and 47, and a plate ~LZ01415 1 51 attached at its oP~osite ends to the end plates 45 2 and 47. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the plate 3 51 is above the rods 49, and the plate and rods are 4 horizontal. The plate 51 has two slots 53 extending from a central region of the plate 51 outwardly toward 6 the end plates 45 and 47, respectively, to accommodate 7 an upwardly extending flanqe 55 on each of the label 8 receivers 31 and 31a.
9 As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each of the label receivers includes a body 57, and the quide rods 49 ex-11 tend through parallel bores in the body 57 to slidably 12 mount the label receivers 31 and 31a and to fixedly mount 13 the label receiver 33 on the quide rods. If desired, the 14 label receivers 31 and 31a may carry bearings, not shown, for mounting these label receivers on the guide rods 49.
16 The three label receivers have aliqned spring bores 59 17 for accommodating a coil spring 61. The spring 61 is re 18 tained in the spring bores S9 by pins 63 which engage shoulders 19 formed by counterbores at the outer ends of the spring bores 59 in the label receivers 31 and 31a. Thus, the 21 spring 61 biases the label receivers 31 and 31a inwardly 22 along the guide rods 49 toward the intermediate label 23 receiver 33.
24 The central label receiver 33 has resilient pads 65 affixed to the opposite sides thereof for engage~
26 ment with the movable label receivers 31 and 31a, 1~14:15 1 Lespectively, to cushion the impact when the spring 61 2 moves the outer label receivers 31 and 31a against the 3 intermediate label receiver 33.
4 To mount the carriage 43 for movement along a carriage path, which is vertical as shown in Fig. 1, 6 the carriage includes rods 67 mounted on the plate 51 7 and projecting upwardly therefrom. The rods 67 are 8 mounted for vertical movement by a bearing assembly 69 9 which is carried by a mounting plate 71 of the support-ing structure 17. The mounting plate 71 is in turn suit-11 ably affixed to other supporting structure (not shown) of lZ the label applicator 11. The carriage 43 is moved in the 13 bearing assembly 69 by any suitable motor, such as a pneu-14 matic actuator 73 mounted on the bearing assembly 69 and drivingly coupled to the plate 51 by a connecting rod 75.
16 With this invention, the label receivers 31 and 17 31a are moved outwardly automatically in response to move-18 ment of the carriage 43 along the carriage path. This is 19 conveniently accomplished by flexible means for each of the label receivers 31 and 31a. In the embodiment illus-21 trated, the flexible means includes an elongated flexible 22 strap 77 coupled to the flange 55 of the label receiver 23 31 and extendible means in the form of a spring 79. The 24 spring 79 is coupled to the mounting plate 71 by an ad-justing assembly 81. To enable the strap 77 to extend in 26 the correct direction, it extends part way around aguide in the ~L2()~415 1 rorm of a roller ~3 which is rotata~lv mounted on the end 2 plate 47. This structure is duplicated for the label receiver 3 31a, and corresponding parts are designated by corre-4 sponding reference numerals.
S With this construction, the outer ends of the 6 straps 77 are fixed to ~he sup~orting structure 17, ex-7 cept to the exten~ that the springs 79 are caused to 8 extend. Accordingly, as the carriage 43 moves downward-~ ly, the outer label receivers 31 are pulled outwardly by the associated strap 77, with the position of the outer 11 label receivers being a function of the position of the 12 carriage 43 along the carriage path.
13 Adjustable stops 85 are carried by the end plates 14 45 and 47, respectively, to limit the travel of the out-er label receivers 31 outwardlv along the rods 49. Al~
16 though the stops can take different forms, in the embodi-17 ment illustrated~ each of them includes an adjusting 18 screw threadedly received within the associated end 19 plate 45 and 47.
Each of the adjusting assemblies 81 (Figs. 1 and 21 3) can lengthen or shorten the effective length of the as-22 sociated strap 77 by moving the spring 79 up or down as 23 viewed in Fig. 1. In the embodiment illustrated, each of 24 the adjusting assemblies 81 includes a pair of vertical shafts 87 affixed to, and extending upwardly from, the 120~S
1 mounting plate 71 and a carrier 89 mounted for sllding 2 vertical movement on the shafts. An adjusting knob 91 3 is mounted for rotation, but not translation, on a 4 plate 93 which is affi~ed to the upper ends of the S shafts 87. The knob 91 carries a threaded stem 95 6 which is threadedly received within the carrier 89. The 7 carrier 89 has a projecting tab 97 which is coupled to 8 the spring 79. Accordingly, by manually rotating the 9 knob 91, the carrier 89 can be moved up or down to in-crease or decrease the effective length of the strap 77.
11 The adjusting assembly 81 for the label receiver 31a is 12 identical, and corresponding portions are designated by 13 corresponding re~erence nu~e-als.
14 ~he label applieator 11 is adapted to apply three la~la to one or more articles, with the labels 16 being spaced apart a predetermined distance. For il-17 lustrative purposes, the label applicator ll i5 shown 18 in Fig. l as applying labels to three spaced articles 19 99 which are conveyed past the label applicator by a conveyor 101, with the articles 99 being moved into the 21 plane on which Fig. 1 is taken or from left to right on 22 the plane of Fig. 2.
23 In use, labels 23 are releasably retained on 24 the grids 37 at the label dispensing station. ~he pres-ence of the articles 99 at or near the labeling station ~Z~415 1 is sensed by a photocell or other conventi.onal means, 2 and a suitable signal is provided to automatically ex-3 tend the actuator 73 to move the carriage 43 vertically 4 downwardly along the carriage path. Because the straps 77 are of fixed length and are held against bodily move-6 ment, they retain the outer label receivers 31 and 31a 7 thereby pulling them outward~y toward the end plates 47 8 and 45, respectively. When the carriage 43 is at or 9 closely approaching i~s lowermost position, the outer label`receivers 31 and 31a contact their associated 11 stops 85 and, thereafter, further movement of the outer 12 label receivers away from each other is prevented. The 13 springs 79 extend as needed to permit overtravel of the 14 carriage 43 downwardly beyond the point where the outer label receivers 31 and 31a strike their respective stops 16 85.
17 When the carrlage 43 is at, or substantially 18 at, its downwardmost location, the articles 99 are at the 19 labeling station directly beneath the label receivers 31, 31a and 33, respectively, and the labels are then auto-21 matically transferred to the associated article in a22 conventional manner, such as by a blast of air under 23 pressure supplied through the passage 41, the cavity 35 24 and the openings of the grids 37. Alternatively, the labels 23 can be tamped on, or otherwise transferred to, ~0~415 1 the articles 99, respectively. Following the blast of 2 air, the actuator 73 is automatically retracted to r2-3 turn the carriage 43 upwardly along the carriage path.
4 During the upward travel of the carriage 43, the spring 61 moves the outer label receivers 31 and 31a inwardly 6 as permitted by the straps 77 and as a function of the 7 vertical position of the carriage. The pads 65 cushion 8 any shock loading resulting from the spring 61 urging 9 the oute~ label receivers 31 and 31a against the inter-mediate label receiver 33.
11 Following this, the controls 29 automatically 12 advance the label strip 19 sufficiently to remove one of 13 the labels 23 from each of the three rows of labels and 14 apply such removed labels to the grids 37 of the label receivers 31, 31a and 33. Of course, the functions of 16 .he label applicator 11 could be programmed in other ways.
1~ Figs. 5 and 6 show a label applicator 211 18 which is identical to the label applicator 11 in all 19 respects not shown or described herein. Portions of the label applicator 211 corresponding to portions of the 21 label applicator 11 are designated by corresponding re-22 ference numerals preceded by the numeral 2.
23 The primary difference between the label appli-24 cators 11 and 211 is that the spring 61 has been eliminated from the label applicator 211, and the function of re-26 tracting the label receivers 231 and 231a is carried out 27 by flexible elements 111 and 113, respectively, More 28 specifically, a movable member 115 which may be, for ~ZOl~iS
, ~ example, in the form of a rlgid plate or bar is mounted 2 on the upper ends of the ~uide rods 267 for movement as 3 a unit with the carriage 243 along a linear vertical car-4 riage path and is drivingly coupled to the connecting rod 275 of the actuator 273. As with the embodiment of 6 Figs. 1-4, the actuator 273 may be a linear piston-7 cylinder type actuator which is powered by a fluid under 8 pressure, such as air, to reciprocate the carriage 243 9 and the movable member 115 vertically.
The label receivers 231 and 231a are pulled 11 outwardly by elongated flexible elements 277, respectively, 12 which have their opposite ends affixed to the supporting 13 structure 217 and the label receivers 231 and 231a. The 14 flexible elements 277 extend part way around rollers 283 1~ which are mounted for rotation on the opposite ends of 16 the carriage about parallel,horizontal axes. The springs 17 79 and the adjusting assemblies 81 are eliminated in the 18 label applicator 211, and each of the flexible elements 19 277 is preferably in the form of a flexible wire or cable rather than a strap.
21 To move the label receiver 231 inwardly, guides 22 in the form of rollers 117 and 119 are mounted for rota-23 tional movement about parallel horizontal rotational 24 axes at the outer end of the carriage 243 and the mov-able member 115, respectively. The flexible element 111, 26 which may be integral with the associated flexible element 27 277, is coupled to the label receiver 231 and to a plate 28 121 which is mounted on the bearing assembly and which 1;~0~41S
1 forms a portion of the supporting structure. The flexible 2 element 111 e.Ytends part way around the roller 117 and 3 about half way around the roller 119.
4 Similarly, to move the label receiver 231a in-wardly, guides in the form of rollers 123 and 125 are 6 mounted for rotational movement about parallel horizontal 7 axes at the outer end of the carriage 243 and on t~e 8 movable member 115, respectivelv. The flexible element 9 113, which may be integral with the associated flexible element 277, is coupled to the label receiver 321a and 11 to the plate 121. ~he flexible element 113 extends part 12 way around the roller 117 and about half way around 13 the ~oller 119.
14 As with the embodiment of Figs. 1-4, all of the guides for the flexible elements 111, 113 and 277, 16 i.e., the rollers 117, 119, 123, 125 and 283, are mounted 17 for movement as a unit with the carriage 243 and the 18 movable member 115. Thus, there is no relative trans-19 lation between any of the rollers or their rotational axes. The rollers 117 and 283 are preferably coaxial, ~1 and the non-coaxial position shown in Fig. 5 and 6 is 22 merely for clarity. Similarly, the rollers 123 and 283 23 are preferably coaxial. Of course, guides other than ~4 rollers can be used to the e~tent desired.
In use, labels 223 are dispensed onto the label 26 receivers 231, 231a and 233 at the label receiving sta-27 tion (Pig. 5) where they are releasably retained as ~8 described in the embodiment of ~igs. 1-4. When the ~9 1 articles 99 are sensed as described above, the actuator 2 273 automatically retracts the connecting rod 275 to pull 3 the movable member 115 downwardlv toward the label apply-4 ing station (Fig. 6). Because the guide rods 267 rigidly S interconnect the movable member 115 and the carriage 243, 6 the carriage and the movable member move downwardly as q a unit.
During this downward movement, the flexible 9 elements 277 pull their associated label receivers 231 and 231a outwardly to the position of ~ig. 6 as described 1~ above in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1-4.
12 During the downward travel of the carriage 243, the flex-13 ible elements 111 and 113 allow or accommodate the out-14 ward movement of the label receivers 231 and 231a. More lS specifically, the rollers 119 and 125 move downwardly 16 as a unit with the movable member 115 toward the plate 17 121 to provide a sufficient length of the fle~ible elements 18 111 and 113 to accommodate the outward movement of the 19 associated label receivers 231 and 231a. The stroke of the actuator 273 can be adjusted in association with 21 adjusting the stops 285 so that the carriage 243 reaches 2~ the bottom of its stroke at essentially the same time 23 that the label receivers 231 and 231a contact their asso-24 ciated stops 285. Of course, the stops 285 can be elim-~5 inated, if desired.
26 When the carriage 243 is at, or substantially 2~ at, its downwardmost location, the labels 233 are applied 28 to the articles 99 as described above. Following label lZ01~1L15 1 transfer, the actuator 73 is operated to extend the con-2 necting rod 275 to return the carriage 243 upwardly to 3 the position of Fig. 5. During this time, the flexible 4 elements 111 and 113 pull the label receivers 231 and 231a, respectively, inwardlv to the position of Fig. 5.
6 During the upward travel of the carriage 243, the flexible 7 elements 277 merely accommodate the inward movement of 8 the label receivers. The pads 265 provide a cushioning 9 effect as described above. Oth~r functions of the label applicator 211 are identical to the label applicator 11.
11 Although exemplary embodiments of the inven-12 tion have been shown and described, many changes, modi-13 fications and substitutions may be made bv one having 14 ordinary skill in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
11 A label applicator constructed in accordance 12 with this invention may include a supporting structure, 13 a label dispenser on the supporting structure for dis-14 pensing at least one label at a label dispensing sta-tion, a label receiver for receiving the label at the 16 label dispensing station and means for mounting the la-17 bel receiver for movement from the label dispensing sta-18 tion to a label applying station at which the label is 19 transferred from the label receiver to an article. The mounting means preferably includes a carriage mounted on 21 the supporting structure for movement along a first path 22 relative to the supporting structure and means for mount-23 ing the label receiver on the carriage for movement rela-24 tive to the carriage along a second path. The two paths extend in different directions.
lZ~ S
1 A feature of ~ is invention is the use of flexi-2 ~le ~eans drivingly coupled to the label receiver and re-3 sponsive to movement of the carriage in at least one dir-4 ection along the first path for moving the label receiver in a first direction along the second path whereby the la-6 bel receiver is moved to at least one of the stations.
7 The flexible means can be used to move the label receiver 8 to either or both of the label applylng and label dispens-9 ing stations; however, it is preferred to use the flexible means to move the label receiver to the label applying 11 station and to use other means, such as a return spring, to 12 move the label receiver back to the label receiving 13 station.
14 More specifically, the carriage can advantageous-ly be reciprocated along the first path by a suitable mo-16 tor, such as an air cylinder. The flexible means is pref-17 erably drivingly coupled to the lahel receiver and retain-18 ed against bodily movement, i.e., movement of the entire 19 flexible means, during at least a portion of the time the label receiver is moved toward the label applying station.
21 As the carriage moves away from the retained region of ~he 22 flexible means, the flexible means pulls the label receiv-23 er along the second path on the calr age. This can be ad-24 vantageously implemented by a roller rotatably mounted at one end of the carriage over which the flexible means ex-26 tends thereby permitting the flexible means to pull or 27 drive the label receiver along the second pathO
12019~1S
1 To positively locate the Dosition of the la-2 bel receiver along the second path, and therefore, as-3 sist in accurately locating the label receiver at the 4 label applying station, a stop is provided, and the stop is preferably mounted on the carriage. The stop 6 is adjustable to permi~ the label applicator to be 7 adapted for different labeling re~uirements. To pre-8 vent the stop from breaking or excessively stressing 9 the flexible means or other portions of the lab~l appli-cator, the flexible means preferably includes extendible 11 means responsive to the movement of the label applica~or 12 along the second path being arrested bv the stop and ad-13 ditional movement of ~le carriage along its path for ex-14 tending to thereby permit such additional movement of lS the carriage to occur.
16 The label applicator also includes adjustable 17 means for varying the effective length of the flexible 18 means to permit the label applicator to be adapted for 19 different labeling reauirements. Although the adjustable means may take different forms, in a preferred construc-21 tion, it includes a mechanism for controlling the posi-22 tion of the end of the flexible means remote from the la-23 bel receiver.
24 The concepts described above are applicable to 2S the movement of one or more label receivers. In one 2S preferred embodiment, the label applicator of this 120~4iS
1 invention is used for label spreading purposes and, 2 thus, includes at laast two of the label receivers. All 3 of the label receivers are preferably mounted on the carriage 4 for movement with the carriage. However, not all of the label applicators need to be movable along the second path 6 on the carriage so long as the necessarv relative movement ~ is accomplished. For example, if two label receivers are 8 used, the labels can be spread by moving only one of the 9 label receivers along the carriage, although it may be desirable for other reasons to move both of the label 11 receivers.
12 According to a second preferred embodiment, the 13 flexible means is used to move the label ~eceiver in both ~4 direc~ions along the second path on the carriage. In this event, the spring can, if desired, be eliminated.
16 This has the advantage o~ moving the label receivers more 17 positively than a spring.
18 So that the elongated flexible means can move 19 the label receiver in both directions, it preferably in-cludes first and second elongated flexible elements 21 drivin~ly coupled to the label receiver and to the support-22 ing structure. The first and second elongated flexible 23 elements can be sections of the same flexible element or 2~ they may be separate elements. The first flexible element pulls the label receiver in one direction and the second 26 flexible element pulls the label receiver in the other 27 direction.
12014~S
1 Means i~ provided to enable the second flexible 2 element to accommodate the motion imparted to the label 3 receiver bv the first flexible element. In a preferred 4 construction, such means includes a movable member movable with the carriage along the first path and a guide on the 6 movable member. The second elongated flexible element 7 extends from the label receiver along the guide and is 8 drivingly coupled to the supporting structure. The second 9 flexible element is formed into a double length by pass-ing over the guide, and this allows it to accommodate the move-11 ment imparted to the label receiver by the first flexible element.
12 In both preferred forms of the invention, the 13 flexible means and the guide means for the flexible means 14 are extremely simple, inexpensive and easy to assemble, and the guide means for guiding the elongated flex-16 ible means from the label receiver to the fixed support 17 moves as a unit with the carriage. Th~ guide means can 18 advantageously comprise a plurality of rollers, the axes 19 of rotation of which do not move significantly with re-spect to each other thereby providing a simple, inexpensive 21 system. Additional simplicity is provided by reciprocating 22 the carriage, and this can be advantageously implemented 23 by a simple guide rod mounting system and a cylinder-type 24 motor.
The invention, toqether with additional features 26 and advantages thereof, may best be understood by refer-27 ence to the following description taken in connection 28 with the accompanying illustrative drawing.
lÆ014iS
2 - _ 3 Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of a portion 4 of a label applicator constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. The label receivers are 6 shown in full lines at the label dispensing station and 7 in phantom lines at the label applying statl~n.
8 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken 9 generally along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with portions of the label receiver being shown in cross section.
11 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view 12 taken generally along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.
13 Fig. 4 is a fragmentarv plan view illustrat-14 ing a label strip of the type which is adapted for use with the label applicator of this invention.
16 Figs. 5 and 6 are front elevationa' views o~
17 a second preferred form of label applicator constructed 18 in accordance with the teachings o~ this invention. ~igs.
19 S and 6 show the label receivers at the label receiving stakion and the label applying station, respectively.
24 Figs. 1-3 show a label applicator 11 which gen-erally includes label dispensing means 11 (Fig. 2), label 26 separating means 15, and a supporting structure 17 on 27 which the various components of the label applicator are 28 mounted. The label applicator 11 is particularly adapted 29 ~or use with a label strip 19 (Fig~ 4) which includes a ~0 3~
lZOl~
1 web or backing strip 21 of a suitable release ~aper and 2 pressure sensitive adhesive labels 23 releasably adhered 3 to one side of the backing strip. The backing strip 21 is 4 elongated, and the labels 23 are provided in multiole, parallel rows which extend longitudinally of the backing 6 strip. The rows of labels 23 may be contiguous or verv 7 narrowly spaced so that the width of the backing strip 21 is just sufficient to accommodate the side-by-side rows of the 9 labels 23. In the form sho~n in Fig. 4, three rows of the labels 23 are provided. Of course, any suitable desired number 11 of rows of labels 23 may be provided on the backing strip 21.
12 The label dispensing means 13 may be of any suit-13 able construction which will remove the labels 23 from the 14 backing strip 21 and provide them to the label separating means 15. Label dispensing means of this type is known and 16 one such label dispensing means i9 disclosed in common 17 assignee's U.S. Patent 4,046,613.
18 The label dispensing means 13 includes a peeler 19 bar 25 suitably mounted on the supporting structure 17.
The peeler bar 25 has a peeling edge 27 over which the 21 label strip 19 extends. The label dispensing means 13 in-22 cludes conventional controls 29 which se~uentially move the 23 label strip 19 in a well-known manner over the peeling 24 edge 27 to sequentially remove the labels 23. With each indexing movement of the label strip 19, one label 23 from 26 each of the three rows of labels shown in Fig. 4 is removed 27 from the backing strip 21 in a direction transverse ~o the 28 peeling edge 27 and in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2.
29 The label separating means 15 includes two identi-cal, movable label receivers 31 and 31a and an intermediate 32 _~_ ~20~1S
1 label receiver 33 which is substantially identical to the 2 movable label receivers. The label receivers 31, 31a and 33 3 receive the removed labels from the three rows of labels, 4 respectively. The use of three label receivers is purel~
illustrative. ~enerally, the number of label receivers 6 should correspond with the number of labels or groups of 7 labels that are to be spread apart. Because the label re-8 ceivers are substantially identical, only the label recei~Jer g 31 is described in detail, and corres~onding portions of the label receivers 31a and 33 are designated by correspondin~
ll reference numerals.
12 The label receiver 31 is much like the conven-13 tional vacuum box used in prior art label applicators in 14 that it includes a cavity 35 (Fig. 2) and an air pervious, ,15 apertured grid 37 for receiving one of the labels 23. The 16 gr,id 37 lies closely adjacent the peeling edge 27 of the l~ peeler bar 25 and at a small angle to the plane of move-18 ment of the labels 23 off of the hacking strip 21 so that it l9 can receive one of the labels 23 as such label is removed from the backing strip 21 by the label dispensing means. The ~1 cavity 35 is evacuated to a suitable subatmospheric pressure 22 via a vacuum passage 39 to releasably retain the removed label Z3 23 against the outer face of the grid 37 in a conventional 24 manner, and an air blast can be provided through an air pressure passage 41 to remove the labels from the grid and transfer them to articles.
2~ In the position shown in full lines in Fig. l, 28 the label receivers 31, 31a and 33 are in abutting rela-29 tionship at a label dispensing station, i.e., the station 31 _9_ lZ019L15 1 at which the label receivers are positioned to receive 2 labels from the label dispensing means 13. The label 3 receiver 33 is sandwiched between the other two label 4 receivers. The label receivers 31 and 31a are mounted for movement to spread the labels 23 generally in the 6 direction of the width dimension of the backing strip 7 21 at the label dlspensing station, i.e., generally in 8 the direction in which the peeling edge 27 extends.
9 Viewed from another perspective, the label receivers 31 and 31a spread the labels 23 in a direction general-11 ly transverse to the direction in which the labels move 12 when they are peeled from the backing strip 21. In ad-13 dition, the label receivers 31, 31a and 33 also move the 14 labels 23 perpendicular to the peeling edge 27, i.e., downwardly as viewed in Fig. 1. This latter movement 16 does not spread the labels but moves them into position 17 for application to articles.
18 To provide for spreading of the labels 23, the 19 label receivers 31 and 31a are mounted on a carriage 43 for relative movement toward and away from the interme~
21 diate label receive~ 33 which, in the embodiment illus-22 trated, is fixedly mounted on the carriage. Although the 23 carriage 43 could be of different constructions, in the 24 embodiment illustrated, it includes a pair of end plates 45 and 47, a pair of parallel guide rods 49 fixed to, and 26 extending between, the end plates 45 and 47, and a plate ~LZ01415 1 51 attached at its oP~osite ends to the end plates 45 2 and 47. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the plate 3 51 is above the rods 49, and the plate and rods are 4 horizontal. The plate 51 has two slots 53 extending from a central region of the plate 51 outwardly toward 6 the end plates 45 and 47, respectively, to accommodate 7 an upwardly extending flanqe 55 on each of the label 8 receivers 31 and 31a.
9 As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each of the label receivers includes a body 57, and the quide rods 49 ex-11 tend through parallel bores in the body 57 to slidably 12 mount the label receivers 31 and 31a and to fixedly mount 13 the label receiver 33 on the quide rods. If desired, the 14 label receivers 31 and 31a may carry bearings, not shown, for mounting these label receivers on the guide rods 49.
16 The three label receivers have aliqned spring bores 59 17 for accommodating a coil spring 61. The spring 61 is re 18 tained in the spring bores S9 by pins 63 which engage shoulders 19 formed by counterbores at the outer ends of the spring bores 59 in the label receivers 31 and 31a. Thus, the 21 spring 61 biases the label receivers 31 and 31a inwardly 22 along the guide rods 49 toward the intermediate label 23 receiver 33.
24 The central label receiver 33 has resilient pads 65 affixed to the opposite sides thereof for engage~
26 ment with the movable label receivers 31 and 31a, 1~14:15 1 Lespectively, to cushion the impact when the spring 61 2 moves the outer label receivers 31 and 31a against the 3 intermediate label receiver 33.
4 To mount the carriage 43 for movement along a carriage path, which is vertical as shown in Fig. 1, 6 the carriage includes rods 67 mounted on the plate 51 7 and projecting upwardly therefrom. The rods 67 are 8 mounted for vertical movement by a bearing assembly 69 9 which is carried by a mounting plate 71 of the support-ing structure 17. The mounting plate 71 is in turn suit-11 ably affixed to other supporting structure (not shown) of lZ the label applicator 11. The carriage 43 is moved in the 13 bearing assembly 69 by any suitable motor, such as a pneu-14 matic actuator 73 mounted on the bearing assembly 69 and drivingly coupled to the plate 51 by a connecting rod 75.
16 With this invention, the label receivers 31 and 17 31a are moved outwardly automatically in response to move-18 ment of the carriage 43 along the carriage path. This is 19 conveniently accomplished by flexible means for each of the label receivers 31 and 31a. In the embodiment illus-21 trated, the flexible means includes an elongated flexible 22 strap 77 coupled to the flange 55 of the label receiver 23 31 and extendible means in the form of a spring 79. The 24 spring 79 is coupled to the mounting plate 71 by an ad-justing assembly 81. To enable the strap 77 to extend in 26 the correct direction, it extends part way around aguide in the ~L2()~415 1 rorm of a roller ~3 which is rotata~lv mounted on the end 2 plate 47. This structure is duplicated for the label receiver 3 31a, and corresponding parts are designated by corre-4 sponding reference numerals.
S With this construction, the outer ends of the 6 straps 77 are fixed to ~he sup~orting structure 17, ex-7 cept to the exten~ that the springs 79 are caused to 8 extend. Accordingly, as the carriage 43 moves downward-~ ly, the outer label receivers 31 are pulled outwardly by the associated strap 77, with the position of the outer 11 label receivers being a function of the position of the 12 carriage 43 along the carriage path.
13 Adjustable stops 85 are carried by the end plates 14 45 and 47, respectively, to limit the travel of the out-er label receivers 31 outwardlv along the rods 49. Al~
16 though the stops can take different forms, in the embodi-17 ment illustrated~ each of them includes an adjusting 18 screw threadedly received within the associated end 19 plate 45 and 47.
Each of the adjusting assemblies 81 (Figs. 1 and 21 3) can lengthen or shorten the effective length of the as-22 sociated strap 77 by moving the spring 79 up or down as 23 viewed in Fig. 1. In the embodiment illustrated, each of 24 the adjusting assemblies 81 includes a pair of vertical shafts 87 affixed to, and extending upwardly from, the 120~S
1 mounting plate 71 and a carrier 89 mounted for sllding 2 vertical movement on the shafts. An adjusting knob 91 3 is mounted for rotation, but not translation, on a 4 plate 93 which is affi~ed to the upper ends of the S shafts 87. The knob 91 carries a threaded stem 95 6 which is threadedly received within the carrier 89. The 7 carrier 89 has a projecting tab 97 which is coupled to 8 the spring 79. Accordingly, by manually rotating the 9 knob 91, the carrier 89 can be moved up or down to in-crease or decrease the effective length of the strap 77.
11 The adjusting assembly 81 for the label receiver 31a is 12 identical, and corresponding portions are designated by 13 corresponding re~erence nu~e-als.
14 ~he label applieator 11 is adapted to apply three la~la to one or more articles, with the labels 16 being spaced apart a predetermined distance. For il-17 lustrative purposes, the label applicator ll i5 shown 18 in Fig. l as applying labels to three spaced articles 19 99 which are conveyed past the label applicator by a conveyor 101, with the articles 99 being moved into the 21 plane on which Fig. 1 is taken or from left to right on 22 the plane of Fig. 2.
23 In use, labels 23 are releasably retained on 24 the grids 37 at the label dispensing station. ~he pres-ence of the articles 99 at or near the labeling station ~Z~415 1 is sensed by a photocell or other conventi.onal means, 2 and a suitable signal is provided to automatically ex-3 tend the actuator 73 to move the carriage 43 vertically 4 downwardly along the carriage path. Because the straps 77 are of fixed length and are held against bodily move-6 ment, they retain the outer label receivers 31 and 31a 7 thereby pulling them outward~y toward the end plates 47 8 and 45, respectively. When the carriage 43 is at or 9 closely approaching i~s lowermost position, the outer label`receivers 31 and 31a contact their associated 11 stops 85 and, thereafter, further movement of the outer 12 label receivers away from each other is prevented. The 13 springs 79 extend as needed to permit overtravel of the 14 carriage 43 downwardly beyond the point where the outer label receivers 31 and 31a strike their respective stops 16 85.
17 When the carrlage 43 is at, or substantially 18 at, its downwardmost location, the articles 99 are at the 19 labeling station directly beneath the label receivers 31, 31a and 33, respectively, and the labels are then auto-21 matically transferred to the associated article in a22 conventional manner, such as by a blast of air under 23 pressure supplied through the passage 41, the cavity 35 24 and the openings of the grids 37. Alternatively, the labels 23 can be tamped on, or otherwise transferred to, ~0~415 1 the articles 99, respectively. Following the blast of 2 air, the actuator 73 is automatically retracted to r2-3 turn the carriage 43 upwardly along the carriage path.
4 During the upward travel of the carriage 43, the spring 61 moves the outer label receivers 31 and 31a inwardly 6 as permitted by the straps 77 and as a function of the 7 vertical position of the carriage. The pads 65 cushion 8 any shock loading resulting from the spring 61 urging 9 the oute~ label receivers 31 and 31a against the inter-mediate label receiver 33.
11 Following this, the controls 29 automatically 12 advance the label strip 19 sufficiently to remove one of 13 the labels 23 from each of the three rows of labels and 14 apply such removed labels to the grids 37 of the label receivers 31, 31a and 33. Of course, the functions of 16 .he label applicator 11 could be programmed in other ways.
1~ Figs. 5 and 6 show a label applicator 211 18 which is identical to the label applicator 11 in all 19 respects not shown or described herein. Portions of the label applicator 211 corresponding to portions of the 21 label applicator 11 are designated by corresponding re-22 ference numerals preceded by the numeral 2.
23 The primary difference between the label appli-24 cators 11 and 211 is that the spring 61 has been eliminated from the label applicator 211, and the function of re-26 tracting the label receivers 231 and 231a is carried out 27 by flexible elements 111 and 113, respectively, More 28 specifically, a movable member 115 which may be, for ~ZOl~iS
, ~ example, in the form of a rlgid plate or bar is mounted 2 on the upper ends of the ~uide rods 267 for movement as 3 a unit with the carriage 243 along a linear vertical car-4 riage path and is drivingly coupled to the connecting rod 275 of the actuator 273. As with the embodiment of 6 Figs. 1-4, the actuator 273 may be a linear piston-7 cylinder type actuator which is powered by a fluid under 8 pressure, such as air, to reciprocate the carriage 243 9 and the movable member 115 vertically.
The label receivers 231 and 231a are pulled 11 outwardly by elongated flexible elements 277, respectively, 12 which have their opposite ends affixed to the supporting 13 structure 217 and the label receivers 231 and 231a. The 14 flexible elements 277 extend part way around rollers 283 1~ which are mounted for rotation on the opposite ends of 16 the carriage about parallel,horizontal axes. The springs 17 79 and the adjusting assemblies 81 are eliminated in the 18 label applicator 211, and each of the flexible elements 19 277 is preferably in the form of a flexible wire or cable rather than a strap.
21 To move the label receiver 231 inwardly, guides 22 in the form of rollers 117 and 119 are mounted for rota-23 tional movement about parallel horizontal rotational 24 axes at the outer end of the carriage 243 and the mov-able member 115, respectively. The flexible element 111, 26 which may be integral with the associated flexible element 27 277, is coupled to the label receiver 231 and to a plate 28 121 which is mounted on the bearing assembly and which 1;~0~41S
1 forms a portion of the supporting structure. The flexible 2 element 111 e.Ytends part way around the roller 117 and 3 about half way around the roller 119.
4 Similarly, to move the label receiver 231a in-wardly, guides in the form of rollers 123 and 125 are 6 mounted for rotational movement about parallel horizontal 7 axes at the outer end of the carriage 243 and on t~e 8 movable member 115, respectivelv. The flexible element 9 113, which may be integral with the associated flexible element 277, is coupled to the label receiver 321a and 11 to the plate 121. ~he flexible element 113 extends part 12 way around the roller 117 and about half way around 13 the ~oller 119.
14 As with the embodiment of Figs. 1-4, all of the guides for the flexible elements 111, 113 and 277, 16 i.e., the rollers 117, 119, 123, 125 and 283, are mounted 17 for movement as a unit with the carriage 243 and the 18 movable member 115. Thus, there is no relative trans-19 lation between any of the rollers or their rotational axes. The rollers 117 and 283 are preferably coaxial, ~1 and the non-coaxial position shown in Fig. 5 and 6 is 22 merely for clarity. Similarly, the rollers 123 and 283 23 are preferably coaxial. Of course, guides other than ~4 rollers can be used to the e~tent desired.
In use, labels 223 are dispensed onto the label 26 receivers 231, 231a and 233 at the label receiving sta-27 tion (Pig. 5) where they are releasably retained as ~8 described in the embodiment of ~igs. 1-4. When the ~9 1 articles 99 are sensed as described above, the actuator 2 273 automatically retracts the connecting rod 275 to pull 3 the movable member 115 downwardlv toward the label apply-4 ing station (Fig. 6). Because the guide rods 267 rigidly S interconnect the movable member 115 and the carriage 243, 6 the carriage and the movable member move downwardly as q a unit.
During this downward movement, the flexible 9 elements 277 pull their associated label receivers 231 and 231a outwardly to the position of ~ig. 6 as described 1~ above in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1-4.
12 During the downward travel of the carriage 243, the flex-13 ible elements 111 and 113 allow or accommodate the out-14 ward movement of the label receivers 231 and 231a. More lS specifically, the rollers 119 and 125 move downwardly 16 as a unit with the movable member 115 toward the plate 17 121 to provide a sufficient length of the fle~ible elements 18 111 and 113 to accommodate the outward movement of the 19 associated label receivers 231 and 231a. The stroke of the actuator 273 can be adjusted in association with 21 adjusting the stops 285 so that the carriage 243 reaches 2~ the bottom of its stroke at essentially the same time 23 that the label receivers 231 and 231a contact their asso-24 ciated stops 285. Of course, the stops 285 can be elim-~5 inated, if desired.
26 When the carriage 243 is at, or substantially 2~ at, its downwardmost location, the labels 233 are applied 28 to the articles 99 as described above. Following label lZ01~1L15 1 transfer, the actuator 73 is operated to extend the con-2 necting rod 275 to return the carriage 243 upwardly to 3 the position of Fig. 5. During this time, the flexible 4 elements 111 and 113 pull the label receivers 231 and 231a, respectively, inwardlv to the position of Fig. 5.
6 During the upward travel of the carriage 243, the flexible 7 elements 277 merely accommodate the inward movement of 8 the label receivers. The pads 265 provide a cushioning 9 effect as described above. Oth~r functions of the label applicator 211 are identical to the label applicator 11.
11 Although exemplary embodiments of the inven-12 tion have been shown and described, many changes, modi-13 fications and substitutions may be made bv one having 14 ordinary skill in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
Claims (15)
IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A label applicator comprising:
a supporting structure;
label dispensing means on the supporting struc-ture for dispensing at least one label at a label dispens-ing station;
a label receiver for receiving the labels at the label dispensing station and including means for releas-ably retaining the label on the label receiver;
a carriage;
means for mounting said carriage on the support-ing structure for movement along a first path relative to the supporting structure between the label dispensing sta-tion and a label applying station;
means for mounting the label receiver on said car-riage for movement relative to said carriage along a second path, said paths extending in different directions;
means for transferring the label from the label receiver to an article when the label receiver is at the label applying station;
flexible means drivingly coupled to the label re-ceiver and to a fixed support and responsive to movement of the carriage in at least one direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in a first direction along said second path when the label receiver is moved to at least one of said stations; and said flexible means includes a first elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to the label receiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to the movement of the carriage in said one direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in said first direction along said second path and a second elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to the label receiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to move-ment of the carriage in the other direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in a second dir-ection along said second path.
a supporting structure;
label dispensing means on the supporting struc-ture for dispensing at least one label at a label dispens-ing station;
a label receiver for receiving the labels at the label dispensing station and including means for releas-ably retaining the label on the label receiver;
a carriage;
means for mounting said carriage on the support-ing structure for movement along a first path relative to the supporting structure between the label dispensing sta-tion and a label applying station;
means for mounting the label receiver on said car-riage for movement relative to said carriage along a second path, said paths extending in different directions;
means for transferring the label from the label receiver to an article when the label receiver is at the label applying station;
flexible means drivingly coupled to the label re-ceiver and to a fixed support and responsive to movement of the carriage in at least one direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in a first direction along said second path when the label receiver is moved to at least one of said stations; and said flexible means includes a first elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to the label receiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to the movement of the carriage in said one direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in said first direction along said second path and a second elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to the label receiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to move-ment of the carriage in the other direction along said first path for moving the label receiver in a second dir-ection along said second path.
2. A label applicator as defined in claim 1 wherein the label applicator includes a movable member carried by said carriage along said first path, first and second guides carried by said carriage and third and fourth guides carried by said movable member, said first elongated flexible element extending part way around said first and third guides and said second elongated flexible element extending part way around said second and fourth guides.
3. A label applicator as defined in claim 1 including a cylinder-type actuator for reciprocating the carriage along said first path.
4. A label applicator as defined in claim 1 wherein said first path is vertical.
5. A label applicator as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said label receivers has a label receiv-ing face which is generally transverse to the first path and said label dispensing means dispenses a label onto each of the label receiving faces at the label dispens-ing station.
6. A label applicator comprising:
a supporting structure;
a carriage;
means for mounting said carriage on the support-ing structure for reciprocating movement along a first path relative to the supporting structure between a label dispensing station and a label applying station;
motor means mounted on said supporting structure for reciprocating said carriage along said first path;
first and second label receivers;
means for mounting the label receivers on the carriage with at least one of said label receivers being movable along a second path toward and away from the first label receiver, said paths extending in different direc-tions;
label dispensing means on the supporting struc-ture for dispensing labels to said label receivers at the label receiving station;
each of said first and second label receivers in-cluding means for releasably retaining the labels supplied thereto on such label receiver;
elongated flexible means drivingly coupled to said one label receiver and to a fixed support and responsive to movement of the carriage in at least one direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in a first direction along said second path whereby the spacing between the first and second label receivers is changed when the carriage is moved from one of said stations to the other of said stations;
said flexible means includes a first elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to said one label re-ceiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to the movement of the carriage in said one direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in said first direction along said second path and a second elon-gated flexible element drivingly coupled to said one la-bel receiver and to the supporting structure and respon-sive to movement of the carriage in the other direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in a second direction along said second path; and guide means for guiding said elongated flexible means from said one label receiver to said first support, said guide means moving as a unit with said carriage.
a supporting structure;
a carriage;
means for mounting said carriage on the support-ing structure for reciprocating movement along a first path relative to the supporting structure between a label dispensing station and a label applying station;
motor means mounted on said supporting structure for reciprocating said carriage along said first path;
first and second label receivers;
means for mounting the label receivers on the carriage with at least one of said label receivers being movable along a second path toward and away from the first label receiver, said paths extending in different direc-tions;
label dispensing means on the supporting struc-ture for dispensing labels to said label receivers at the label receiving station;
each of said first and second label receivers in-cluding means for releasably retaining the labels supplied thereto on such label receiver;
elongated flexible means drivingly coupled to said one label receiver and to a fixed support and responsive to movement of the carriage in at least one direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in a first direction along said second path whereby the spacing between the first and second label receivers is changed when the carriage is moved from one of said stations to the other of said stations;
said flexible means includes a first elongated flexible element drivingly coupled to said one label re-ceiver and to the supporting structure and responsive to the movement of the carriage in said one direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in said first direction along said second path and a second elon-gated flexible element drivingly coupled to said one la-bel receiver and to the supporting structure and respon-sive to movement of the carriage in the other direction along said first path for moving said one label receiver in a second direction along said second path; and guide means for guiding said elongated flexible means from said one label receiver to said first support, said guide means moving as a unit with said carriage.
7. A label applicator as defined in claim 6 wherein the labels are provided on a backing strip and the label dispensing means includes means for peeling the labels from the backing strip and dispensing such labels to the label receivers.
8. A label applicator as defined in claim 7 wherein the labels are provided in a plurality of rows extending longitudinally on a backing strip and the la-bel dispensing means peels at least one label from each of at least two rows on the backing strip to provide first and second labels to the first and second label receivers, respectively.
9. A label applicator as defined in claim 6 wherein the guide means includes a plurality of guides for guiding the first elongated flexible element between said one label receiver and the supporting structure, said guides moving with the carriage without relative translation between the guides whereby movement of the carriage from the label dispensing station to the label applying station causes the elongated flexible element to move said one label receiver away from the other of the label receivers.
10. A label applicator as defined in claim 6 wherein the other label receiver is mounted on the car-riage for movement along said second path and said elon-gated flexible means includes a third elongated flexible element coupled to the second label receiver and responsive to movement of the carriage in said one direction along said first path for moving the second label receiver in said second direction along the second path.
11. A label applicator as defined in claim 6 including a third label receiver fixedly mounted on said carriage intermediate said first and second label receiv-ers, said first and second label receivers being movable toward and away from said third label receiver.
12. A label applicator as defined in claim 6 wherein the label applicator includes a movable member movable as a unit with said carriage along said first path and said guide means includes a guide on said mov-able member, said second elongated flexible element ex-tends along said guide and is drivingly coupled to said one label receiver and the supporting structure.
13. A label applicator as defined in claim 12 wherein said motor means includes a cylinder-type actua-tor for reciprocating the carriage along the first path, said path is vertical, and each of the label receivers has a label receiving face which is generally transverse to the first path.
14. A label applicator as defined in claim 12 wherein said second elongated flexible element extends over said guide to provide a double length of the first elongated flexible element.
15. A label applicator as defined in claim 12 wherein the mounting means includes at least one guide rod and the movable member and the carriage are mounted on said guide rod in spaced relationship for reciprocat-ing movement together.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US49157783A | 1983-05-04 | 1983-05-04 | |
| US491,577 | 1990-03-12 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1201415A true CA1201415A (en) | 1986-03-04 |
Family
ID=23952810
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000435198A Expired CA1201415A (en) | 1983-05-04 | 1983-08-23 | Label separator utilizing flexible element |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1201415A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7632367B2 (en) | 2005-04-13 | 2009-12-15 | United Parcel Service Of America, Inc. | Parcel labeling, conveying, and sorting method and apparatus |
-
1983
- 1983-08-23 CA CA000435198A patent/CA1201415A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US7632367B2 (en) | 2005-04-13 | 2009-12-15 | United Parcel Service Of America, Inc. | Parcel labeling, conveying, and sorting method and apparatus |
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