CA1224754A - Method of applying plastic labels on glass containers - Google Patents
Method of applying plastic labels on glass containersInfo
- Publication number
- CA1224754A CA1224754A CA000455256A CA455256A CA1224754A CA 1224754 A CA1224754 A CA 1224754A CA 000455256 A CA000455256 A CA 000455256A CA 455256 A CA455256 A CA 455256A CA 1224754 A CA1224754 A CA 1224754A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- container
- sleeve
- mandrels
- bottles
- sleeves
- 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.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65C—LABELLING OR TAGGING MACHINES, APPARATUS, OR PROCESSES
- B65C3/00—Labelling other than flat surfaces
- B65C3/06—Affixing labels to short rigid containers
- B65C3/065—Affixing labels to short rigid containers by placing tubular labels around the container
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C63/00—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor
- B29C63/38—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor by liberation of internal stresses
- B29C63/42—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor by liberation of internal stresses using tubular layers or sheathings
- B29C63/423—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor by liberation of internal stresses using tubular layers or sheathings specially applied to the mass-production of externally coated articles, e.g. bottles
- B29C63/426—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor by liberation of internal stresses using tubular layers or sheathings specially applied to the mass-production of externally coated articles, e.g. bottles in combination with the in situ shaping of the external tubular layer
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The disclosure relates to assembling thermoplastic sleeve coverings on rigid glass containers or bottles and heat-shrinking the plastic covering on the container.
The plastic is fed from a web of material to a mandrel-carrying turret apparatus where it is cut into lengths and wrapped and seamed on successive mandrels,thereby forming sleeves. The bottles which arrive on a conveyor are successively moved and positioned over the sleeve-forming mandrels and the sleeves are telescopically assembled onto the blass bottles. The bottles are then rotated about their axes and moved through a semicircular heated zone to shrink the sleeves into snug engagement with the surface of the glass bottle. After assembly and shrinking is com-plete, the bottles are released to an outfeed conveyor completing the process.
The disclosure relates to assembling thermoplastic sleeve coverings on rigid glass containers or bottles and heat-shrinking the plastic covering on the container.
The plastic is fed from a web of material to a mandrel-carrying turret apparatus where it is cut into lengths and wrapped and seamed on successive mandrels,thereby forming sleeves. The bottles which arrive on a conveyor are successively moved and positioned over the sleeve-forming mandrels and the sleeves are telescopically assembled onto the blass bottles. The bottles are then rotated about their axes and moved through a semicircular heated zone to shrink the sleeves into snug engagement with the surface of the glass bottle. After assembly and shrinking is com-plete, the bottles are released to an outfeed conveyor completing the process.
Description
F~rm ~ 22~754 14813 USA
2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
8 For several years, it has been the practice to form sleeves of thermoplastic material on a series of rotatable 6 mandrels, for example, as shown in the U.S. Patent 3,802,942 6 issued April 9, 1974. This patent discloses the process 7 of forming sleeves from the point where a foamed material 8 is extruded as a tube, then slit into a flat sheet. The ~ sheet has an orientation in the direction of its width 10 due to the fact that the extruded tube has been inflated 11 during the process of its formation to provide the built-in 12 shrinkage characteristics which are desired, so that when 18 the material is formed into a cylinder and applied to a 14 container, the material will have a heat-shrink characteristic 16 to cause it to shrink into contact with the underlying S surfaces of the glass container. Particular reference to 17 this patent 3,802,942 may be had 1~
19 Figs. l and 2 of this patent show a supply of thermo-20 plastic material 15a being fed to a sleeve-making mandrel 81 system, the mandrels being carried on a turret underlying 22 the path of travel of the containers about an end section 28 68. This patent further discloses an endless chain, or 24 pair of chains, carrying a series of neck-grasping chucks 26 for holding the necks of the containers through the cycle ~s of operation of preheating the containers, applying a 27 shrinkable sleeve to the container and subse~uently heat-28 shrinking the sleeve that has been applied to the container.
2~ It will be noted, however, that in this patent the shrinking 80 Of the sleeve takes place in a long t straight line moving ~8 F~rm 233 ~ 2Z47S4 1 away from the turret where the sleeves have been applied 2 to the container.
8 It is an object of this invention to provide a method 4 of handling the containers where the containers are 6 positioned to receive a preformed sleeve thereon, are 6 rotated and the sleeve is shrunk thereon while the con-7 tainer is moving about an arc of a circle above the mandrels 8 upon which the sleeves are being made.
9 It is another object to provide a much more compact sleeve-applying system than heretofore; and a method of 11 handling the bottles and shrinking the sleeves thereon 12 is carried out in a less extensive operation than that of 18 the above-cited patent.
14 Further objects will be apparent from the following 16 description.
16 SU~ARY OF THE INVENTION
17 In the present invention, a succession of cylindrical 18 sleeves are formed on mandrels from lengths cut from a 19 rolled supply of shrinkable predecorated plastic web 20 material. The bottles are carried by chucks in vertical 21 alignment with the mandrels and the sleeves are assembled 22 onto the bottles. The assembled bottles and sleeves are 28 then heat-shrunk within the rotary movement of the mandrel 24 itself by rotating them about their axes while moving 26 them through an area between two opposed heating devices 26 that extend about a portion of the circumference of the 27 handling system. The length of the heaters is sufficient 28 to complete shrinkage of the plastic sleeve about the 29 container. The finished articles are then carried away 80 from the handling turret.
Form 233 2 FI~. l is a schematic, persPective view of an apparatus 8 for carrying out the method of the invention; and, 4 FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of Fig. l 6 taken from the level of the mandrels.
6 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWI~JGS
7 From the disclosure of the above-cited patent, it 8 can be seen that the making of sleeves from thermoplastic, g foamed material supplied in ribbon form is old in the art.
10 It can also be seen from the above-referred-to patent that 11 the moving of the formed sleeves from a series of mandrels 12 onto containers that are positioned thereabove is also 18 known from the prior art. It should also be noted that 14 in the prior art the bottles which are to be provided 16 with a sleeve label, shrunk in place thereon, are preheated 16 in a preheat oven prior to being received in the sleeve-applying machine. An alternative embodiment, identified 18 in the patent as the on-line embodiment of Fig. 2, receives 19 its supply of hot bottles from the annealing lear of a 20 typical glass bottle forming machine. The preheated 21 bottles are then conveyed to the sleeve-applying machine 2~ where they are grasped by their necks and conveyed in 28 series into and through the sleeve-applying portion of the 24 machine and afterwards transported,still by their necks, 26 through a heat-shrink tunnel for shrinking the applied 26 sleeve onto the sides and bottom of the container. The 27 method and the apparatus disclosed in the above-referred-to 28 U.S. Patent 3,802,942 is intended to provide sleeved 2~ containers at rates up to 500 bottles per minute. In 80 contrast to the operation of the machine of this patent
8 For several years, it has been the practice to form sleeves of thermoplastic material on a series of rotatable 6 mandrels, for example, as shown in the U.S. Patent 3,802,942 6 issued April 9, 1974. This patent discloses the process 7 of forming sleeves from the point where a foamed material 8 is extruded as a tube, then slit into a flat sheet. The ~ sheet has an orientation in the direction of its width 10 due to the fact that the extruded tube has been inflated 11 during the process of its formation to provide the built-in 12 shrinkage characteristics which are desired, so that when 18 the material is formed into a cylinder and applied to a 14 container, the material will have a heat-shrink characteristic 16 to cause it to shrink into contact with the underlying S surfaces of the glass container. Particular reference to 17 this patent 3,802,942 may be had 1~
19 Figs. l and 2 of this patent show a supply of thermo-20 plastic material 15a being fed to a sleeve-making mandrel 81 system, the mandrels being carried on a turret underlying 22 the path of travel of the containers about an end section 28 68. This patent further discloses an endless chain, or 24 pair of chains, carrying a series of neck-grasping chucks 26 for holding the necks of the containers through the cycle ~s of operation of preheating the containers, applying a 27 shrinkable sleeve to the container and subse~uently heat-28 shrinking the sleeve that has been applied to the container.
2~ It will be noted, however, that in this patent the shrinking 80 Of the sleeve takes place in a long t straight line moving ~8 F~rm 233 ~ 2Z47S4 1 away from the turret where the sleeves have been applied 2 to the container.
8 It is an object of this invention to provide a method 4 of handling the containers where the containers are 6 positioned to receive a preformed sleeve thereon, are 6 rotated and the sleeve is shrunk thereon while the con-7 tainer is moving about an arc of a circle above the mandrels 8 upon which the sleeves are being made.
9 It is another object to provide a much more compact sleeve-applying system than heretofore; and a method of 11 handling the bottles and shrinking the sleeves thereon 12 is carried out in a less extensive operation than that of 18 the above-cited patent.
14 Further objects will be apparent from the following 16 description.
16 SU~ARY OF THE INVENTION
17 In the present invention, a succession of cylindrical 18 sleeves are formed on mandrels from lengths cut from a 19 rolled supply of shrinkable predecorated plastic web 20 material. The bottles are carried by chucks in vertical 21 alignment with the mandrels and the sleeves are assembled 22 onto the bottles. The assembled bottles and sleeves are 28 then heat-shrunk within the rotary movement of the mandrel 24 itself by rotating them about their axes while moving 26 them through an area between two opposed heating devices 26 that extend about a portion of the circumference of the 27 handling system. The length of the heaters is sufficient 28 to complete shrinkage of the plastic sleeve about the 29 container. The finished articles are then carried away 80 from the handling turret.
Form 233 2 FI~. l is a schematic, persPective view of an apparatus 8 for carrying out the method of the invention; and, 4 FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of Fig. l 6 taken from the level of the mandrels.
6 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWI~JGS
7 From the disclosure of the above-cited patent, it 8 can be seen that the making of sleeves from thermoplastic, g foamed material supplied in ribbon form is old in the art.
10 It can also be seen from the above-referred-to patent that 11 the moving of the formed sleeves from a series of mandrels 12 onto containers that are positioned thereabove is also 18 known from the prior art. It should also be noted that 14 in the prior art the bottles which are to be provided 16 with a sleeve label, shrunk in place thereon, are preheated 16 in a preheat oven prior to being received in the sleeve-applying machine. An alternative embodiment, identified 18 in the patent as the on-line embodiment of Fig. 2, receives 19 its supply of hot bottles from the annealing lear of a 20 typical glass bottle forming machine. The preheated 21 bottles are then conveyed to the sleeve-applying machine 2~ where they are grasped by their necks and conveyed in 28 series into and through the sleeve-applying portion of the 24 machine and afterwards transported,still by their necks, 26 through a heat-shrink tunnel for shrinking the applied 26 sleeve onto the sides and bottom of the container. The 27 method and the apparatus disclosed in the above-referred-to 28 U.S. Patent 3,802,942 is intended to provide sleeved 2~ containers at rates up to 500 bottles per minute. In 80 contrast to the operation of the machine of this patent
-3-Form 233 ~22A~54 1 and the method which it employs, the present invention will 2 receive their glass containers in upright position on a 8 moving belt conveyor generally designated 10. The incoming
4 containers C on the conveyor 10 will be engaged by a side-6 engaging starwheel 12 that is formed with a plurality of 6 pockets in its periphery, it being understood that these 7 pockets will engage the sides of the containers as they 8 are moved on the conveyor 10 and will move the containers, ~ one at a time, into the position designated 13 on Figs. 1 10 and 2. At this position the container, which is entering 11 the sleeve-applying portion of the machine, will be engaged 12 by and gripped at its neck by a set of tongs 14. The 18 tongs 14 are shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6 of ~.S. Patent 14 3,802,942. The tongs 14 are mounted at the lower end of 16 a chuck mechanism, generally designated 15. The chuck 1~ mechanism 15 is mounted onto two rotating discs 16 and 17.
The discs 16 and 17 are mounted coaxially on a vertical 18 axle 18. The axle 18 in turn is connected to a gear 19.
19 The gear 19 is driven by a spur gear 20 extending from a 20 transmission 21. The transmission 21 is driven by a 81 vertical shaft 21a connected by suitable gearing to an 22 electric motor 22. The motor 22, as shown in Fig. 1, 28 also drives a lower bull gear 23. The bull gear 23 also 24 rotates about the central axis of the machine which is 26 coincidental with the axle 18. This bull gear supports 26 a turret (not shown) that provides the transporting 27 mechanism for a plurality of sleeve-forming mandrels 24.
28 The mandrels 24 are individually rotatable about their 29 vertical axes by a mechanism not here shown, but shown o in detail in the referenced patent 3,802,942.
F~rm 23~
lZZ4754 1 As can be seen when viewing Fig. 2, the mechanism 2 has eighteen mandrels in a circular array about the axis 8 of the axle 18. The mandrels 24 sequentially receive foam 4 sleeve-forming material in discreet length from a transfer ~ drum 25. The sleeve-forming material comes in the form 6 of a continuous endless strip 26, moving in the direction 7 of the arrow shown thereon in Fig. 1. The strip is fed 8 between a pair of roll stands 27 into engagement with the g periphery of the drum 25. The drum 25 is provided with 10 vacuum ports therein to engage and grip and carry the 11 strip 26 therealong. While the strip of material is 12 engaged by the drum, it will be cut by a rotary cutter 28 18 operated in timed sequence with the feeding of the strip 14 material 26. Thus, there will be provided on the surface 15 of the drum 25 a discreet length of the strip material 26.
16 This strip of material is then transferred from the drum 25 17 to a mandrel 24 that is brought into tangential relationship 18 to the drum 25. This mandrel, to which the discreet 19 strip is to be transferred, is an empty or bare mandrel 20 at the time that it arrives opposite the drum 25. The 21 mandrel also has a row of vacuum ports spaced vertically 22 along the wall thereof, which will take the leading edge of 2~ the strip material from the drum 25. The mandrel at this 24 time is rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed 26 in the drawings. The mandrel will then rotate an amount 26 sufficiently to complete the rolling or wrapping of the 27 strip about the mandrel into a cylindrical sleeve surround-28 ing the mandrel. The complete wrapping occurs at approximately 29 the 65 point on the layout in Fig. 2. At about 67 of the 80 rotation of the mandrels, a cam 29 will move a cam follower 30 _5_ Form 233 1~2475A
1 radially outward to push a heat-sealing bar 31 into the 2 overlapped portion of the sleeve surrounding the mandrel 24.
8 It should be understood and, as explained in detail in 4 patent 3,802,942, that the mandrel winding and the position 6 of the vacuum holes in the mandrel are such that the 6 trailing edge of the strip of material will be overlying 7 the leading edge at the point in the cycle of operation 8 where the heat-sealing bar 31 is moved into engagement 9 with the overlapped portion. At this time, the mandrels 10 are disengaged from any individual rotational drive and 11 the heating or sealing bar will remain in sealing contact 12 with the overlapped portion until the seam welding is 18 completed at the 217 point in the overall rotation of 14 the mandrel-carrying turret. Shortly after this, in the 16 cycle of the turret movement the incoming bottle from the ~ conveyor 10 will be picked up by a chuck 15 and the chuck 15 7 will position and hold the bottle in coaxial alignment 18 with an underlying mandrel containing a completed sleeve.
9 While only a single chuck 15 is shown in Fig. 1, it should 20 be kept in mind that there is a chuck for each of the 81 mandrels, therefore there are eighteen chucks which are 22 coaxially positioned above the mandrels 24.
28 The jaws of the chuck 14 are opened and closed by 24 the manipulation of a cam follower 35 carried thereby.
26 The cam follower 35, throughout most of the cycle of 26 operation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, is not operated.
27 However, manipulation of the cam follower 35 by a cam 34 28 will open the tongs and effect the release of a completed 29 bottle and then pick up a bare container in order to carry 80 it through the cycle.
F3rm 23~
~224754 1 Vertical movement of the chuck 15 is not necessary 2 for the releasing of a bottle which has received a sleeve 8 and the picking up of a bare bottle to begin the sleeving 4 cycle. However, steadying of the chuck 15 during this phase 6 of the operation may be carried out by a cam 33 engaging 6 a roller 32 at the upper end of the chucks 15. As shown in 7 Fig. 1, the cam 33 is a box cam within which the roller 32 8 will pass, while the cam 34 is a generally flat bar that will ~ dip down at the release point for the bottles and remain down 10 until a bottle is ready to be grasped at the point 13, where 11 cam 34 will release the follower 3~ resulting in the grasping 12 of the bottle neck. At this time, the cam 33 may release 18 the follower 32 and let the chuck remain in the proper posi-14 tion.
As previously stated, the bottle at position 13 is 16 held by its neck by a chuck 15 and, as it moves in synchronism and in vertical alignment with an underlying mandrel, a stripper 18 mechanism will strip the formed sleeve from the underlying 19 mandrel and telescope it vertically upward around the circumference of the container. This movement is illustrated 21 by the arrow 36.
22 As shown in Fig. 2, the stripper starts up at the 88 260 mark and completes its action by the 300 mark, just 24 in advance of entry of the container into a sleeve-shrinking 26 heater. The heat-shrinking mechanism comprises a pair of 26 semi-circular heaters 37 and 38. The heaters 37 and 38 are 27 spaced apart sufficiently to permit passage of a container 28 with applied sleeve therebetween and, in effect, as a unit 29 constitutes a heat-shrinking oven. During the movement of 80 the containers carried by the chucks 15 through the gap Form 233 ~ :
~224754 `
1 between the two heaters 37 and 38, the tong portion of 2 the chuc~s are rotated about the vertical axis of the 8 chucks. This rotation is accomplished by an annular surface 39 of the chuck engaging a stationary cam plate 6 or bar 40. The bar 40 may be faced with a friction material B in the manner taught in ~.S. Patent 3,802,942 and shown at 7 250a of Fig. 6 of this patent.
8 Thus, it can be seen that rotation of the chucks and the containers carried thereby during their transport 10 through the gap provided between the heaters 37 and 38 11 will provide even heating of the sleeve material so that 12 it will be shrunk in a uniform manner about the circum-18 ference and sidewalls of the containers. The chucks continue 14 in their counterclockwise movement about the axle 18, and 16 at a point or position 180 removed from the 0 position, ~ will release the containers with their sleeves applied so that a side-engaging starwheel 41 will move the completed 18 and assembled containers from the assembly and shrinking 1~ machine onto an outfeed conveyor 42.
The heaters 37 and 38, which in a sense constitute a 21 significant portion of the invention, may be formed of 22 sheet metal with a plurality of radiant, Calrod type 28 heating elements extending along the length thereof in 24 facing relationship with respect to the container and the 26 sleeve carried thereby. Alternatively, the heaters may 26 be of any selected type, such as blown hot air which directs 27 air against the sleeved container.
28 Having described a schematic representation of the 2~ apparatus that could be used in the method of the invention, 80 the process which is performed by the apparatus will be _~_ F~rm 23 3 1 described in the sequence of its operation to receive 2 bare bottles and a strip of plastic wrap material and produce 8 a container having a heat-shrunk sleeve applied thereto.
4 In the prior art,as exemplified by the above-referred-8 to U.S. Patent 3,802,942, the containers to which shrunken 6 sleeves are to be applied were moved along through a q preheater oven to heat the bottles,or were provided from 8 the forming machine or the annealing lehr at a somewhat g elevated temperature. The bottles were picked up by individual sets of tongs and chucks and moved along a 11 straight path. The chucks travel on an endless driven 12 carriage to transport the bottles through a preheated and 18 past the sleeve-forming turret where the fabricated sleeves 14 are assembled telescopically onto the containers. Then 16 the chucks will carry the containers into and through an lB elongated, linear tunnel oven wherein the sleeves shrink 17 to conform to the article shape. With shrinkage complete, 18 they are transported to an unloading station.
19 Timed with the bottle-handling apparatus is the 20 sleeve-making apparatus which receives a thermoplastic 21 web material from a supply. This is guided in oriented 22 fashion onto a feed drum where lengths are cut and trans-28 ferred to mandrels. The lengths are each wound onto the 24 cylinder-like mandrels and seamed at an end-to-end overlap 26 region to form a complete cylindrical sleeve. The mandrels 26 move in time with the bottles about the common axis of the 27 mandrel-supporting turret. The sleeves, after being heat-88 sealed, are stripped from the mandrels and placed over the 29 body of the bottles. It should be noted in this patent 80 that the bottles which are picked up are carried for a ~1 _g_ F,~rm 233 122A75~
1 considerable distance before they reach the assembly area, 2 and after the sleeves are assembled thereto, they move again 8 through a relatively long heat-shrinking tunnel and the 4 completed bottles are released onto an exit conveyor. With 6 this system, a relatively large area of a manufacturing 6 plant must be set aside and devoted exclusively to the q elongated handling mechanism and heating systems disclosed.
8 In contrast to the foregoing description of the prior g art, the present invention provides a compact handling 10 system in which the sleeves are made on a turret machine in 11 essentially the identical form as that disclosed in the 12 above-referred-to patent. However, the bottles are picked 18 up by chucks which move in alignment with the mandrels without having them carry the bottles away from the mandrel-16 supporting turret. The process of the invention is such lB that newly formed containers C, or containers brought from 17 storage, are placed on an incoming conveyor where they are 18 met by an indexing pocketed starwheel which moves about a 19 vertical axis to index the containers, one at a time, into alignment with the mandrels as they are moving past the 21 end of the incoming conveyor. At this time, the chuck will 22 be opened so that its tongs may grasp the neck of the con-28 tainer, yet maintaining the bottle in coaxial alignment 24 with the underlying mandrel. From this point forward, the 26 specific chuck, bottle and mandrel stay in coaxial alignment.
26 The mandrel at this point will have a sealed sleeve surround-27 ing it and the sleeve will be moved upwardly around the 28 bottle positioned thereabove. The sleeve is actually pushed 2~ upward by a stripper during the interval of 26n~ and 300, Form 2~3 1224'754 1 as indicated in Fig. 2, when the stripper will be beginning 2 to retract from its uppermost position. ~t 310, the 8 bottle-holding chuck will be rotated about its vertical axis 4 and the bottle and sleeve carried thereby moves through 6 the area between two heaters to effect the shrinking of the ff foamed plastic sleeve about the container while it is 7 moving within the circumference of the mandrel turret. The 8 shrinking will continue until the bottle has been moved ~ through approximately 115 of the circumference of the 10 mandrel-supporting and chuck-supporting turret. Continued 11 movement of the bottles by the chucks will take place;
12 however, rotation is stopped once the container and sleeve 18 has cleared the end of the heaters. At approximately 1~0, 14 indicated in Fig. 2, the chuck will release the 15 container with the sleeve attached and the container will ff be engaged by a starwheel 41 which will move the container in an arcuate path onto the outfeed conveyor 42.
18 The significant thing which is being carried out by 9 the invention is the fact that the shrinking of the sleeve 20 IS accomplished within the movement of the bottle in the 21 turret itself without having an external large heating 22 system. This is partly because of the fact that the system 28 runs at a somewhat slower speed than that which is described 4 in the above-referred-to patent 3,802,942. Also, the weight 26 of the bottles is becoming less and, for that reason, it is 26 not as critical that the bottles be heated to such a degree 2q prior to the shrinking of the sleeve thereon. The sleeves, 28 as previously explained, are made from a web of material 29 fed to the mandrels from a transfer drum and in essence the 80 process of for~ing the sleeves and transferring the sleeves Form 233 1 is generally the same as that described in the above-2 referred-to patent.
8 In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that a process 4 is provided which will handle glass containers and apply 6 sleeves of thermoplastic, shrinkable material tnereto 6 which involves the use of less expensive equipment in con-7 struction and in space-saving in that it is relatively small 8 compared to the commercial predecessor. While the present g invention has been described with regard to a specific lo piece of equipment for forming the product of the process, 11 it should be kept in mind that some of the steps could be 12 performed by other apparatus, although that which has been 18 described is the apparatus for performing the preferred 14 process of the invention.
16 While the foregoing description talked in terms of 16 the sleeve being a foam material, such as that disclosed and tq described in U.S. Patent 3,802,942, it should be kept in 18 mind that there are other shrinkable thermoplastic materials 19 which may be provided with a shrink memory that would be 20 suitable in the present invention, and it is not intended 21 to limit the scope of the appended claims by reason of the 22 recitation of a specific shrinkable thermoplastic material 28 being utilized in the process.
The discs 16 and 17 are mounted coaxially on a vertical 18 axle 18. The axle 18 in turn is connected to a gear 19.
19 The gear 19 is driven by a spur gear 20 extending from a 20 transmission 21. The transmission 21 is driven by a 81 vertical shaft 21a connected by suitable gearing to an 22 electric motor 22. The motor 22, as shown in Fig. 1, 28 also drives a lower bull gear 23. The bull gear 23 also 24 rotates about the central axis of the machine which is 26 coincidental with the axle 18. This bull gear supports 26 a turret (not shown) that provides the transporting 27 mechanism for a plurality of sleeve-forming mandrels 24.
28 The mandrels 24 are individually rotatable about their 29 vertical axes by a mechanism not here shown, but shown o in detail in the referenced patent 3,802,942.
F~rm 23~
lZZ4754 1 As can be seen when viewing Fig. 2, the mechanism 2 has eighteen mandrels in a circular array about the axis 8 of the axle 18. The mandrels 24 sequentially receive foam 4 sleeve-forming material in discreet length from a transfer ~ drum 25. The sleeve-forming material comes in the form 6 of a continuous endless strip 26, moving in the direction 7 of the arrow shown thereon in Fig. 1. The strip is fed 8 between a pair of roll stands 27 into engagement with the g periphery of the drum 25. The drum 25 is provided with 10 vacuum ports therein to engage and grip and carry the 11 strip 26 therealong. While the strip of material is 12 engaged by the drum, it will be cut by a rotary cutter 28 18 operated in timed sequence with the feeding of the strip 14 material 26. Thus, there will be provided on the surface 15 of the drum 25 a discreet length of the strip material 26.
16 This strip of material is then transferred from the drum 25 17 to a mandrel 24 that is brought into tangential relationship 18 to the drum 25. This mandrel, to which the discreet 19 strip is to be transferred, is an empty or bare mandrel 20 at the time that it arrives opposite the drum 25. The 21 mandrel also has a row of vacuum ports spaced vertically 22 along the wall thereof, which will take the leading edge of 2~ the strip material from the drum 25. The mandrel at this 24 time is rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed 26 in the drawings. The mandrel will then rotate an amount 26 sufficiently to complete the rolling or wrapping of the 27 strip about the mandrel into a cylindrical sleeve surround-28 ing the mandrel. The complete wrapping occurs at approximately 29 the 65 point on the layout in Fig. 2. At about 67 of the 80 rotation of the mandrels, a cam 29 will move a cam follower 30 _5_ Form 233 1~2475A
1 radially outward to push a heat-sealing bar 31 into the 2 overlapped portion of the sleeve surrounding the mandrel 24.
8 It should be understood and, as explained in detail in 4 patent 3,802,942, that the mandrel winding and the position 6 of the vacuum holes in the mandrel are such that the 6 trailing edge of the strip of material will be overlying 7 the leading edge at the point in the cycle of operation 8 where the heat-sealing bar 31 is moved into engagement 9 with the overlapped portion. At this time, the mandrels 10 are disengaged from any individual rotational drive and 11 the heating or sealing bar will remain in sealing contact 12 with the overlapped portion until the seam welding is 18 completed at the 217 point in the overall rotation of 14 the mandrel-carrying turret. Shortly after this, in the 16 cycle of the turret movement the incoming bottle from the ~ conveyor 10 will be picked up by a chuck 15 and the chuck 15 7 will position and hold the bottle in coaxial alignment 18 with an underlying mandrel containing a completed sleeve.
9 While only a single chuck 15 is shown in Fig. 1, it should 20 be kept in mind that there is a chuck for each of the 81 mandrels, therefore there are eighteen chucks which are 22 coaxially positioned above the mandrels 24.
28 The jaws of the chuck 14 are opened and closed by 24 the manipulation of a cam follower 35 carried thereby.
26 The cam follower 35, throughout most of the cycle of 26 operation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, is not operated.
27 However, manipulation of the cam follower 35 by a cam 34 28 will open the tongs and effect the release of a completed 29 bottle and then pick up a bare container in order to carry 80 it through the cycle.
F3rm 23~
~224754 1 Vertical movement of the chuck 15 is not necessary 2 for the releasing of a bottle which has received a sleeve 8 and the picking up of a bare bottle to begin the sleeving 4 cycle. However, steadying of the chuck 15 during this phase 6 of the operation may be carried out by a cam 33 engaging 6 a roller 32 at the upper end of the chucks 15. As shown in 7 Fig. 1, the cam 33 is a box cam within which the roller 32 8 will pass, while the cam 34 is a generally flat bar that will ~ dip down at the release point for the bottles and remain down 10 until a bottle is ready to be grasped at the point 13, where 11 cam 34 will release the follower 3~ resulting in the grasping 12 of the bottle neck. At this time, the cam 33 may release 18 the follower 32 and let the chuck remain in the proper posi-14 tion.
As previously stated, the bottle at position 13 is 16 held by its neck by a chuck 15 and, as it moves in synchronism and in vertical alignment with an underlying mandrel, a stripper 18 mechanism will strip the formed sleeve from the underlying 19 mandrel and telescope it vertically upward around the circumference of the container. This movement is illustrated 21 by the arrow 36.
22 As shown in Fig. 2, the stripper starts up at the 88 260 mark and completes its action by the 300 mark, just 24 in advance of entry of the container into a sleeve-shrinking 26 heater. The heat-shrinking mechanism comprises a pair of 26 semi-circular heaters 37 and 38. The heaters 37 and 38 are 27 spaced apart sufficiently to permit passage of a container 28 with applied sleeve therebetween and, in effect, as a unit 29 constitutes a heat-shrinking oven. During the movement of 80 the containers carried by the chucks 15 through the gap Form 233 ~ :
~224754 `
1 between the two heaters 37 and 38, the tong portion of 2 the chuc~s are rotated about the vertical axis of the 8 chucks. This rotation is accomplished by an annular surface 39 of the chuck engaging a stationary cam plate 6 or bar 40. The bar 40 may be faced with a friction material B in the manner taught in ~.S. Patent 3,802,942 and shown at 7 250a of Fig. 6 of this patent.
8 Thus, it can be seen that rotation of the chucks and the containers carried thereby during their transport 10 through the gap provided between the heaters 37 and 38 11 will provide even heating of the sleeve material so that 12 it will be shrunk in a uniform manner about the circum-18 ference and sidewalls of the containers. The chucks continue 14 in their counterclockwise movement about the axle 18, and 16 at a point or position 180 removed from the 0 position, ~ will release the containers with their sleeves applied so that a side-engaging starwheel 41 will move the completed 18 and assembled containers from the assembly and shrinking 1~ machine onto an outfeed conveyor 42.
The heaters 37 and 38, which in a sense constitute a 21 significant portion of the invention, may be formed of 22 sheet metal with a plurality of radiant, Calrod type 28 heating elements extending along the length thereof in 24 facing relationship with respect to the container and the 26 sleeve carried thereby. Alternatively, the heaters may 26 be of any selected type, such as blown hot air which directs 27 air against the sleeved container.
28 Having described a schematic representation of the 2~ apparatus that could be used in the method of the invention, 80 the process which is performed by the apparatus will be _~_ F~rm 23 3 1 described in the sequence of its operation to receive 2 bare bottles and a strip of plastic wrap material and produce 8 a container having a heat-shrunk sleeve applied thereto.
4 In the prior art,as exemplified by the above-referred-8 to U.S. Patent 3,802,942, the containers to which shrunken 6 sleeves are to be applied were moved along through a q preheater oven to heat the bottles,or were provided from 8 the forming machine or the annealing lehr at a somewhat g elevated temperature. The bottles were picked up by individual sets of tongs and chucks and moved along a 11 straight path. The chucks travel on an endless driven 12 carriage to transport the bottles through a preheated and 18 past the sleeve-forming turret where the fabricated sleeves 14 are assembled telescopically onto the containers. Then 16 the chucks will carry the containers into and through an lB elongated, linear tunnel oven wherein the sleeves shrink 17 to conform to the article shape. With shrinkage complete, 18 they are transported to an unloading station.
19 Timed with the bottle-handling apparatus is the 20 sleeve-making apparatus which receives a thermoplastic 21 web material from a supply. This is guided in oriented 22 fashion onto a feed drum where lengths are cut and trans-28 ferred to mandrels. The lengths are each wound onto the 24 cylinder-like mandrels and seamed at an end-to-end overlap 26 region to form a complete cylindrical sleeve. The mandrels 26 move in time with the bottles about the common axis of the 27 mandrel-supporting turret. The sleeves, after being heat-88 sealed, are stripped from the mandrels and placed over the 29 body of the bottles. It should be noted in this patent 80 that the bottles which are picked up are carried for a ~1 _g_ F,~rm 233 122A75~
1 considerable distance before they reach the assembly area, 2 and after the sleeves are assembled thereto, they move again 8 through a relatively long heat-shrinking tunnel and the 4 completed bottles are released onto an exit conveyor. With 6 this system, a relatively large area of a manufacturing 6 plant must be set aside and devoted exclusively to the q elongated handling mechanism and heating systems disclosed.
8 In contrast to the foregoing description of the prior g art, the present invention provides a compact handling 10 system in which the sleeves are made on a turret machine in 11 essentially the identical form as that disclosed in the 12 above-referred-to patent. However, the bottles are picked 18 up by chucks which move in alignment with the mandrels without having them carry the bottles away from the mandrel-16 supporting turret. The process of the invention is such lB that newly formed containers C, or containers brought from 17 storage, are placed on an incoming conveyor where they are 18 met by an indexing pocketed starwheel which moves about a 19 vertical axis to index the containers, one at a time, into alignment with the mandrels as they are moving past the 21 end of the incoming conveyor. At this time, the chuck will 22 be opened so that its tongs may grasp the neck of the con-28 tainer, yet maintaining the bottle in coaxial alignment 24 with the underlying mandrel. From this point forward, the 26 specific chuck, bottle and mandrel stay in coaxial alignment.
26 The mandrel at this point will have a sealed sleeve surround-27 ing it and the sleeve will be moved upwardly around the 28 bottle positioned thereabove. The sleeve is actually pushed 2~ upward by a stripper during the interval of 26n~ and 300, Form 2~3 1224'754 1 as indicated in Fig. 2, when the stripper will be beginning 2 to retract from its uppermost position. ~t 310, the 8 bottle-holding chuck will be rotated about its vertical axis 4 and the bottle and sleeve carried thereby moves through 6 the area between two heaters to effect the shrinking of the ff foamed plastic sleeve about the container while it is 7 moving within the circumference of the mandrel turret. The 8 shrinking will continue until the bottle has been moved ~ through approximately 115 of the circumference of the 10 mandrel-supporting and chuck-supporting turret. Continued 11 movement of the bottles by the chucks will take place;
12 however, rotation is stopped once the container and sleeve 18 has cleared the end of the heaters. At approximately 1~0, 14 indicated in Fig. 2, the chuck will release the 15 container with the sleeve attached and the container will ff be engaged by a starwheel 41 which will move the container in an arcuate path onto the outfeed conveyor 42.
18 The significant thing which is being carried out by 9 the invention is the fact that the shrinking of the sleeve 20 IS accomplished within the movement of the bottle in the 21 turret itself without having an external large heating 22 system. This is partly because of the fact that the system 28 runs at a somewhat slower speed than that which is described 4 in the above-referred-to patent 3,802,942. Also, the weight 26 of the bottles is becoming less and, for that reason, it is 26 not as critical that the bottles be heated to such a degree 2q prior to the shrinking of the sleeve thereon. The sleeves, 28 as previously explained, are made from a web of material 29 fed to the mandrels from a transfer drum and in essence the 80 process of for~ing the sleeves and transferring the sleeves Form 233 1 is generally the same as that described in the above-2 referred-to patent.
8 In view of the foregoing, it can be seen that a process 4 is provided which will handle glass containers and apply 6 sleeves of thermoplastic, shrinkable material tnereto 6 which involves the use of less expensive equipment in con-7 struction and in space-saving in that it is relatively small 8 compared to the commercial predecessor. While the present g invention has been described with regard to a specific lo piece of equipment for forming the product of the process, 11 it should be kept in mind that some of the steps could be 12 performed by other apparatus, although that which has been 18 described is the apparatus for performing the preferred 14 process of the invention.
16 While the foregoing description talked in terms of 16 the sleeve being a foam material, such as that disclosed and tq described in U.S. Patent 3,802,942, it should be kept in 18 mind that there are other shrinkable thermoplastic materials 19 which may be provided with a shrink memory that would be 20 suitable in the present invention, and it is not intended 21 to limit the scope of the appended claims by reason of the 22 recitation of a specific shrinkable thermoplastic material 28 being utilized in the process.
Claims (3)
1. In the method of applying a label to a glass container, wherein labels of heat-shrinkable foamed plastic are fed from a roll supply to a drum where they are severed into individual labels, then individually transferred to one of a series of winding mandrels carried on a rotating turret with the labels being heat-sealed into complete, cylindrical sleeves on the mandrels, with an individual container supported above and in axial alignment with each of the mandrels, the containers and mandrels being moved together in synchronism, with the formed sleeves being telescoped from the mandrel onto the container thereabove, the improvement therein comprising the step of rotating the container and sleeve about its vertical axis while moving about the axis of the turret and heat-shrinking the sleeve about the container while the container is moving and then releasing the container with label thereon to an exit starwheel for moving the container onto a moving belt conveyor.
2. The method of Claim 1, further comprising the step of rotating the container about its vertical axis while applying heat to the label assembled thereon to provide even shrinkage of the sleeve label onto the container.
3. The method of Claim 1, further including the step of applying heat to the container and assembled sleeve with infra-red radiation extending along both sides of the path of travel of the container for a time sufficient to completely shrink the sleeve into conforming relationship to the container.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US51048383A | 1983-07-05 | 1983-07-05 | |
| US510,483 | 1990-04-18 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1224754A true CA1224754A (en) | 1987-07-28 |
Family
ID=24030923
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000455256A Expired CA1224754A (en) | 1983-07-05 | 1984-05-28 | Method of applying plastic labels on glass containers |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1224754A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3424081A1 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES533992A0 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2142900B (en) |
Families Citing this family (19)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ226616A (en) * | 1987-10-22 | 1991-07-26 | Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals | Heat-shrinking an extruded cylindrical label onto a container: extruded label stretched in direction of extrusion prior to heat-shrinking |
| FR2646828B1 (en) * | 1989-05-12 | 1991-08-30 | Europ Protection Decor Conditi | MACHINE FOR LAYING LABEL SLEEVES ON BOTTLES OR THE LIKE |
| DE4125472A1 (en) * | 1991-08-01 | 1993-02-04 | Kronseder Maschf Krones | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR EQUIPPING VESSELS WITH A LABEL FROM SEALABLE MATERIAL AND VESSELS EQUIPPED THEREFORE |
| US5337379A (en) * | 1993-07-08 | 1994-08-09 | Styrotech Corporation | Fiber optic coupling assembly |
| DE19737689A1 (en) * | 1997-08-29 | 1999-03-04 | Hans Joachim Lortz | Method for severing an open piece of film tube and device for carrying out the method |
| DE10038572C2 (en) * | 2000-08-03 | 2003-01-30 | Hans-Joachim Lortz | Method and device for pushing tubular film sections over elongated objects |
| US6955033B2 (en) | 2002-07-24 | 2005-10-18 | Hans-Joachim Lortz | Method of pushing tubular films onto elongate objects and processing apparatus for implementing the method |
| US8932706B2 (en) | 2005-10-27 | 2015-01-13 | Multi-Color Corporation | Laminate with a heat-activatable expandable layer |
| DE102006060109A1 (en) | 2006-12-20 | 2008-06-26 | Krones Ag | Machine for shrinking shrink film onto packaged goods and shrink-wrapping process |
| US8282754B2 (en) | 2007-04-05 | 2012-10-09 | Avery Dennison Corporation | Pressure sensitive shrink label |
| CA2683427C (en) | 2007-04-05 | 2016-10-11 | Avery Dennison Corporation | Pressure sensitive shrink label |
| ITMO20080130A1 (en) * | 2008-04-30 | 2009-11-01 | Sacmi Labelling S P A | APPARATUS AND METHOD TO APPLY LABELS ON CONTAINERS |
| NL1035494C2 (en) | 2008-05-29 | 2009-12-01 | Fuji Seal Europe Bv | Device for manufacturing sleeve-like foil envelopes from a flat strip of foil material. |
| DE102009005180A1 (en) | 2009-01-15 | 2010-07-22 | Khs Ag | Container handling machine |
| IT1396834B1 (en) * | 2009-11-18 | 2012-12-14 | Sacmi Labelling S P A Ora Sacmi Verona S P A | PROCEDURE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SLEEVE LABELS AND DEVICE FOR THEIR PRODUCTION. |
| PL2528830T3 (en) | 2010-01-28 | 2014-08-29 | Avery Dennison Corp | Label applicator belt system |
| DE102011108017A1 (en) * | 2011-07-20 | 2013-01-24 | Krones Aktiengesellschaft | Module for aligning containers and method for aligning containers |
| DE202016105661U1 (en) | 2016-10-10 | 2018-01-11 | Ansgar Kewitz | Rotation shrinking device |
| CN109484716A (en) * | 2018-12-14 | 2019-03-19 | 济南和创医疗器械有限公司 | A kind of high-efficiency vertical thermal shrinking package machine |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4302275A (en) * | 1979-11-27 | 1981-11-24 | Owens-Illinois, Inc. | Apparatus for forming tubular plastic sleeves for application to bottles |
| DE3008060C2 (en) * | 1980-03-03 | 1984-12-13 | Jagenberg-Werke AG, 4000 Düsseldorf | Method for applying a covering serving as a capsule replacement to an opening of a container provided with a closure, in particular a bottle and device for carrying out the method |
| DE3149886C2 (en) * | 1981-12-16 | 1984-11-08 | Jagenberg-Werke AG, 4000 Düsseldorf | Labeling machine for items such as bottles |
-
1984
- 1984-05-28 CA CA000455256A patent/CA1224754A/en not_active Expired
- 1984-05-31 GB GB08413863A patent/GB2142900B/en not_active Expired
- 1984-06-29 DE DE19843424081 patent/DE3424081A1/en not_active Ceased
- 1984-07-04 ES ES533992A patent/ES533992A0/en active Granted
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB8413863D0 (en) | 1984-07-04 |
| ES8504604A1 (en) | 1985-04-16 |
| DE3424081A1 (en) | 1985-02-07 |
| GB2142900A (en) | 1985-01-30 |
| ES533992A0 (en) | 1985-04-16 |
| GB2142900B (en) | 1986-10-22 |
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