EP0356437B1 - Hand-held labeller - Google Patents

Abstract

Hand-held labeller (10) with a casing (11) and an operating lever (14), which can swing about a first axis (13) and which, from a rest position, pivots towards a handle (12) integral with the casing. A transport device (34-36) for a strip of labels (31) comes into action when the operating lever (14) is thus pivoted, said strip being drawn by a supply roll (32) and passed over a deflection edge (33) to the transport means (34 to 36), a strip brake being disposed between said supply roll (32) and said deflection edge (33) to arrest and release the strip of labels (31) in the longitudinal direction. The strip brake is provided with a braking lever (27), swinging about a second axis against the force of a first return spring (45). When the operating lever (14) is in the off position, said return spring (45) presses the strip of labels (31) against a guide plate (30) with the end (29) of one arm of the braking lever (27), the other arm of said lever co-operating with the operating lever (14) in such a way that, when the latter is operated, the strip brake formed by the other arm (29) is raised. An element (55) is disposed on a lever (22) actuated by the operating lever (14), which, additionally to the return spring (45), locks the braking lever (27) in the inoperative position when the operating lever (14) is in the off position.

Description

The invention relates to a hand-held labeling device with a housing and an operating lever which can be pivoted about a first axis and which is pivoted out in the rest position relative to a handle fixed to the housing, with a transport device for a label tape which is actuated during the pivoting out of the operating lever and which is pulled off a supply roll and via a deflection edge the transport device is guided, with a tape brake arranged between the supply roll and the deflecting edge for holding or releasing the label tape in the longitudinal direction, the tape brake moving about a second axis against the force of a has the first return spring pivotable brake lever, wherein in the rest position of the operating lever, the return spring with the end of one arm of the brake lever presses the label tape against a guide plate and the other lever arm cooperates with the operating lever so that when this lever is actuated, the band brake formed by the other arm is aired.

Such a hand labeling device is known from DE-OS 26 38 441.

In known hand-held labeling devices, the label detaches from the carrier tape when the carrier tape is pulled around a pointed deflection edge by the transport device. The detachable label is then leached directly under a pressure roller and, while it is completely detached from the carrier tape, can be pressed onto the object to be labeled. At the beginning of the press-on process, the label still adheres to a large extent on the carrier tape due to the immediate vicinity of the deflection edge and pressure roller, this applies all the longer the longer the label is in the direction of the carrier tape.

Such hand-held labeling devices are frequently used in order to provide the same number of objects in rapid succession with the same labels. For example, in wholesale stores, outer cartons that contain a large amount of individual cartons or cans are torn open at the top, and the individual cartons or cans are labeled in quick succession. The jerky movements and the speed of the labeling result in a considerable pull during the pressing process the carrier tape is exerted, the larger the longer the portion of the label still adhering to the carrier tape. The exact step-by-step transport of the carrier tape through the transport device, which is indispensable to ensure that the individual labels are printed in register-correct manner, can be significantly disturbed, in particular if label tape is pulled off the supply roll in an uncontrolled manner by the train on the carrier tape.

Tape brakes of various types have therefore already been proposed, which take effect at different times during the usual cycle of a hand-held labeling device. Such a usual cycle normally consists of the operating lever, which can be pivoted with respect to the housing, being pivoted out in the rest position and first being sucked in by the user. During the viewing process, a printing unit is pivoted in the hand-held labeling device and one label is printed on each. The user only lets go of the fully retractable pivoting operating lever so that it returns to its swung-out end position under the force of a return spring. During this swiveling-out movement, the transport mechanism is actuated, which conveys the label belt by one register step (label length), and during this conveyor movement the label detaches from the carrier belt at the deflection edge.

In the case of a edged hand-held labeling device, as described in the aforementioned DE-OS 26 38 441, the swiveling operating lever is extended at the front by two narrow support arms which carry a print head at their front free end. The support arms are nearby of the front free end connected in the transverse direction by means of a shaft. For braking, ie for optionally fixing or releasing the label tape in the longitudinal direction, a two-part brake lever is provided which presses the label tape against a guide plate fixed to the housing. A brake lever element is continuously biased by a spring and constantly exerts a certain pressure on the label tape. A second brake lever element is under the force of a relatively strongly prestressed leg spring which, in the rest position of the brake lever, presses a brake foot with great force onto the label tape resting on the guide plate. Another lever arm of this brake lever pointing upwards is provided on its front with profiled guide beads and the shaft which connects the support arms of the pressure head rests on these profiled beads at the front. If the pivotable operating lever is now retracted, the shaft slides down on the beads and pivots the brake lever against the force of the leg spring in such a way that the brake foot lifts off the label strip. In the known hand-held labeling device, this takes place twice during a labeling cycle, namely once when the pivotable handle is pulled in, while the shaft slides downward on the beads and - for reasons of symmetry - again when the pivotable handle is extended again when the shaft is again on the same beads slides back up to the rest position.

However, the known hand-held labeling device has the disadvantage that the braking force in the rest position when the operating lever is pivoted out is determined exclusively by the force of the leg spring which prestresses the brake lever. You want to So if the braking force is as high as possible, in order to prevent the label tape from being pulled out accidentally, the leg spring must be dimensioned appropriately strong. However, this has the disadvantage that the actuating force of the hand-held labeling device becomes correspondingly large because the brake lever is deflected against the force of the leg spring during each dispensing process. However, the force required to actuate a hand-held labeler must not be too high, because such hand-held labelers are actuated many times by the users during their work and therefore everything should be done to prevent signs of fatigue. Although one could in turn reduce the actuating force by appropriately dimensioning the lever arms of the brake lever, even with a strongly dimensioned leg spring, this is hardly possible for reasons of space, especially since the actuation of the brake lever should only be defined over a limited pivoting range of the pivotable handle, so that in the Dimensioning of the lever arms of the brake lever is not free.

Another hand labeling device is known from DE-AS 25 18 782, which also has a brake lever which can be pivoted about an axis fixed to the housing. The brake lever is pivoted by means of a transport bracket, which in turn is actuated by the pivotable operating lever. In this case, however, the kinematics is chosen so that the brake, except in the rest position of the pivotable operating lever, is released during its entire movement sequence, so that the label tape can be pulled out of its defined, register-accurate position with a corresponding pull.

In a further known hand-held labeling device, as described in DE-OS 31 30 378, a construction similar to that of the hand-held labeling device according to DE-AS 25 18 782 is selected, but with the difference that the brake lever is no longer actuated directly by the pivotable operating lever becomes. In this known hand labeling device, a spring presses a lever end against the label tape and this against a roll. If the operating lever is retracted, a protrusion of the handle abuts the brake lever in the retracted end position and lifts it off the label tape. At the same time, a locking member is relaxed, which had initially held the brake lever, so that the brake lever remains released even during the pivoting-out movement of the operating lever. Only at the end of the swing-out movement is the locking element locked again and the brake is applied.

Although in this hand-held labeling device the tape brake is only released during the swiveling-out movement of the operating lever, precise synchronization with the transport device is neither provided nor possible, and the braking force cannot be adjusted in the desired manner in the activated position of the fire brake.

In a hand-held labeling device known from DE-PS 30 17 843 (& EP 39 781), the brake lever, which can be pivoted about an axis, is provided on its front side with a control edge against which a control member rests in the form of a web, which is similar to that described at the beginning Hand labeling device of DE-OS 26 38 441 is arranged between two support arms for the printing unit. When the control lever is pulled in, it lifts Control element, however, from the control edge and only hits the control edge again in the almost fully retracted position of the operating lever. At the same time, a lock is provided which, like the locking element in the previously described hand-held labeling device of DE-OS 31 30 378, is able to lock the brake lever in its released position. As a result of these elements, the hand-held labeling device of DE-PS 30 17 843 results in a released state of the fire brake from a certain retraction angle of the operating lever up to its completely released state. This also has the disadvantage that the brake is released over a very long pivoting range of the handle, which is substantially larger than the range in which the transport device is actuated, but that on the other hand it is only pressed on by the spring and is not locked.

Finally, from EP-PS 0 059 392 a further hand-held labeling device is known in which a linearly displaceable transport carriage for the label tape is provided with a hook at its front end, which then, when the transport carriage has reached its front end position with the operating lever retracted , grips around a brake lever and pivots it away from the label belt when the transport carriage moves back near the back when swiveling out the operating lever. In this known hand-held labeling device, too, the tape brake is released during the entire swiveling-out movement of the operating lever.

The invention has for its object to develop a hand-held labeling device of the type mentioned in such a way that even with rapid succession of label dispensing is avoided with certainty that in the swung-out rest position of the operating lever label tape from the Supply roll is withdrawn without this having to be bought through an increase in the operating force of the hand-held labeling device.

This object is achieved in that an element is arranged on a lever actuated by the operating lever, which holds the brake lever in the rest position in addition to the return spring in the rest position of the operating lever.

The problem underlying the invention is solved completely in this way, because in the extended state of the operating lever, the brake lever is not only held firmly by the force of a leg spring but also also positively, so that the band brake always with the device even when strongly shaken by handling their full braking force rests on the label tape.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the element actuated by the operating lever has an inclined surface acting as a wedge, against which a stop arranged on the brake lever rests at least on the last part of the movement leading to the rest position of the operating lever and the brake lever in its rest position by wedging action in it Rest position presses. As a result, the brake lever is held in place not only by the force of a leg spring but also by the effect of the wedging, whereby an almost arbitrarily large braking force can be set by suitable wedge angles.

In particular, the element actuated by the operating lever is arranged on two parallel strips, the extensions form the lever, and the strips are provided on their top with an arcuate recess, one arc section of which forms the wedge surface.

These measures have the advantage that a particularly effective and space-saving arrangement arises, in which the design of the narrow lever strips, which are present anyway, is used to realize the wedge surface by providing an arcuate cutout, on which the pin abuts with low friction.

Further advantages result from the description and the attached drawing.

Fig. 1

eine stark schematisierte Seitenansicht eines

 

Ausführungsbeispiels eines erfindungsgemäßen

 

Handetikettiergeräts;

Fig. 2 und 3

zwei Bewegungsphasen zur Veranschaulichung der

 

Funktionsweise des erfindungsgemäßen Handetikettiergeräts.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is explained in more detail in the following description. Show it:

Fig. 1

a highly schematic side view of a

Embodiment of an inventive

Hand labeling machine;

2 and 3

two movement phases to illustrate the

Operation of the hand labeling device according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, 10 designates as a whole a hand-held labeling device with a housing 11 which is only indicated schematically and which can be produced, for example, from plastic in a two-shell construction or in one piece. A handle 12 fixed to the housing is formed on the rear part of the housing 11. A movable operating lever 14 is pivotably arranged about a first axis 13 fixed to the housing in the rear part of the housing 11 and has its rest position by means of a return spring 15 in the pivoted-out position shown in FIG. 1.

The operating lever 14 has a handle part 20 protruding from the housing 11, which can be gripped by the user in order to pull it in by pressing the return spring 15 towards the handle 12 fixed to the housing and then to pivot it out again under the force of the return spring 15.

On the opposite side of the first axis 13, the operating lever 14 has a lever arm which extends forwards into the housing 11 and is formed by two narrow lateral lever strips 21, which on the inside of the side walls of the housing 11 go up and down about the first axis 13 are pivoted around when the handle part 20 is retracted or pivoted out. In the area of the free ends 22 of the lever strips 21 there is a printing unit, not shown separately in FIG. 1, as is known per se.

In the area of the front free ends 22, the lever strips 21 are connected by means of a transverse web 23. The web 23 has an angular shape and an end 24 projecting horizontally in the direction of the movable handle 14 of the web 23 rests on a profile piece 25 provided with an arcuate contour 16. The profile piece 25 is in turn arranged on a brake lever 27.

The brake lever 27 can be pivoted about a second axis 28 fixed to the housing. A lower lever arm of the brake lever 27 is designed as a brake foot 29, which is arranged opposite a guide plate 30 fixed to the housing.

A label tape 31 leads from a supply roll 32 arranged in the upper part of the housing 11 through the space between the brake foot 29 and the guide plate 30 to a front pointed deflection edge 33 and then runs backwards in the bottom region of the housing 11 to a transport roller 34. The transport roller 34 is, for example, provided with laterally projecting pins 35 into which a pawl 36 engages, which is actuated by the movable handle 14, as is known per se.

The arrangement of FIG. 1 is such that the brake foot 29 presses the label strip 31 onto the guide plate 30 and thus fixes it in the longitudinal direction.

Fig. 1 also shows that the brake lever 27 merges rearward into two plate-shaped free ends 38 which abut the lever strips 21 laterally, so that tilting of the brake lever 27 is avoided.

One leg spring 45 abuts one end against a stop 46 fixed to the housing, while its other end loads the brake lever 27 in FIG. 1 in the counterclockwise direction, so that the brake foot 29 presses the label strip 31 firmly against the guide plate 30 in the rest position.

2 and 3 show the units essential for the actuation of the brake lever 27 in a view similar to FIG. 1, but offset somewhat upwards relative to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 1, namely up to the front free end 22 of the extension of the operating lever 14 .

It can be seen that the free ends 22, which are designed as narrow strips, are provided on their upper side with arcuate recesses 55, protrude into the pin 56 of the brake lever 27. The pins 56 protrude laterally on both sides from the upper edge of the brake lever 27. In the pivoted-out rest position of the operating lever 14 shown in FIG. 2, the pins 56 rest against a surface of the arcuate recess 55, which acts as a wedge surface 57. As is known, in the extended rest position of the operating lever 14, this is pivoted under the force of the relatively strong return spring 15 in the direction of the indicator to a stop fixed to the housing and the pivoting movement of the free ends 22 in the clockwise direction has the effect that, with suitable dimensioning of the wedge surface 57, the pin 56 around the second Axis 28 is pivoted in the counterclockwise direction, so that the contact pressure of the brake foot 29 is again significantly increased beyond the action of the leg spring 45. The resulting total contact pressure of the brake foot 29 secures the label tape 31 with high force against unintentional slipping in the longitudinal direction.

If the hand-held labeling device 10 is now actuated by pulling in the operating lever 14, this is pivoted about the first axis 13 in the clockwise direction and in the illustration in FIG. 3 it can be seen that the free ends 22 move down. This has the effect that, on the one hand, the pins 56 are released from the wedge connection with the wedge surface 57 and thus the contact pressure on the label strip 31 initially decreases. In addition, the front end 24 of the web 23 now slides on the contour 26 of the profile piece 25, the arrangement and dimensioning being such that the brake lever 27 is pivoted clockwise in this way, as can clearly be seen in FIG. 3. The brake foot 29 then lifts off the guide plate 30 or the label strip 31 and releases it.

Claims (4)

1. Hand-held labeling device (10) having a housing (11) and a handle (14) which is arranged for swinging about a first axis (13) and which in the rest position is extended from a second handle (12) fixed to the housing, further having a transport mechanism (34 to 36) for a label tape (31) which is operated during the extension movement of the said pivoted handle (14), the said label tape being pulled off a supply roller (32) and the support tape of which being run to the said transport mechanism (34 to 36) around a dispensing edge (33), and a tape brake arranged between the said supply roller (32) and the said dispensing edge (33) for fixing and releasing the said label tape (31) in the longitudinal direction, said tape brake being provided with a brake lever (27) arranged to swing about a second axis (28), against the force of a first return spring (45) which, in the rest position of the said pivoted handle (14), acts to press the said label tape (31) against a guide plate (30), by the end (29) of the one arm of the said brake lever (27), while the other arm of its lever coacts with the said pivoted handle (14) in such a manner that operating this handle will cause the tape brake formed by the other arm of the lever (29) to be lifted, characterized in that a lever (22) actuated by the said pivoted handle (14) carries an element (57) which acts, in addition to the said return spring (45), to fix the said brake lever (27) in the rest position, in the rest position of the said pivoted handle (14).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the said element (55), which is actuated by the said operating lever, comprises an inclined surface (57) acting as a wedge which is contacted by a stop (56) arranged on the said brake lever (27) at least over the last part of the movement leading to the rest position of the said operating lever (14) and which in this rest position acts to urge the said brake lever (27) into its rest position, be the action of its inclined surface.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the said element (56) coacting with the said inclined surface (57) takes the form of a pin arranged on the said brake lever (27).

4. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the said element (57) actuated by the said operating lever is arranged on two parallel bars (21, 22) forming extensions of the said lever (14), and that the said bars (21, 11) are provided on their upsides with an arc-shaped recess (55) one section of which forms the said wedge surface (57).

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